


The Perfect Disappointment

by Of_Soul_Fire



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Fantasy, Female Merlin, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-19
Updated: 2014-04-10
Packaged: 2017-12-08 22:29:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 36,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/766755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Of_Soul_Fire/pseuds/Of_Soul_Fire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fates had always despised Uther, so much so that they vowed to make his life living hell, even if that meant deviating from the path destiny set out for them. But now they've changed too much! Merlin is the crowned princess of Camelot, and Arthur is a noble ranked just below her! Can destiny still continue? Or did the fates destroy any chance of Albion uniting? Fem!Merlin AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I have this fic on another sight as well, but i must say that I like having it in many places...  
> Enjoy, I've worked on this for a while.. Although its not complete its still something I've worked hard on.

**Prologue**

 

It would seem that the fates had some sort of grudge against Uther Pendragon from the day he was born. They seemed to have nothing better to do than to conspire and scheme of ways with which to screw him over in the long run. They cackled and spun, cackled and schemed, cackled and pulled the threads of Uther’s life, all the while thinking of ways of with which to torture Uther Pendragon in the cruelest ways possible. The old hags who spun the yarn must be getting far too bored if they had to resort to toying with Uther.

Fates first instance of torturing Uther Pendragon had been when he was just 6 years old, born to a powerful noble family in Camelot, and only beginning to understand the world around him and voice his discoveries. At the time of fates intervention, he had been riding to a neighboring kingdom with his mother to help bring along the trades between Camelot and Mercia. The sun had been shining, the birds had been singing, nothing seemed amiss at all.

The young Uther knew nothing of terror, or grief or death; he was pure and innocent, new and fresh. No one had seen fit to tell the young noble that taking along one of his best friends would be folly. Instead they simply saddled a horse and allowed for Uther and a boy the same age as the young noble to ride on the same horse.

The boy whom Uther had already formed such a strong friendship with at such a young age, had also been born on the same day within the same hour. The two had been inseparable since the day they were born, as everyone around them had seen it fit to allow the young lord and this boy born on the same day in the same hour, be together even as infants. It was quite natural then for the noble and that boy to become like brothers.

However the fates were exceedingly cruel, in the fact that they had set that boy there with the intention of killing him to scar the young Uther. They made him die on a beautiful day, right beside Uther in such a horrible and grotesque manner that would leave Uther prejudiced against those who practiced magic for the rest of his life.

Although they never counted on the young Uther being strong enough to push past it, and keep a pure and loving heart of which he had been born with.

**…**

The fates were outraged with the young Uther; they wanted him bitter, cruel, and twisted, which was far too much to ask of a young boy of only 6. They developed a grudge against Uther that would drive them to continue pushing and pushing at him until they got what they wanted. 

They waited until he developed his first love, with a servant girl who was playful and witty. They allowed Uther’s infatuation with the girl flourish before they moved to rip her away from him, once more with magic.

 They still did not count on Uther being able to survive that, to have him escape the incident with only deep emotional wounds and a scar on his arm that would forever remind him of his first love.

**…**

The fates were not satisfied with simply damaging Uther Pendragon and tainting his once pure heart with the need for revenge. They wanted to BREAK him, into tiny pieces of which not even the ultimate forces of the universe could piece him back together again. They wished the most heinous and dreadful things upon Uther, they wished to drive him into the depths of hell, all for their own amusement.

They laid in wait once more, setting up elaborate schemes, tipping the balance of the world enough so that when the time came, they could tip him over the edge. They pushed him towards the sweet and innocent Igraine, allowed the man to fall deeply in love. They gave him time to heal, to let whatever remained of his once pure heart to piece itself back together again before they would set their next scheme in place.

**…**

Time (unlike fate) had been kind to Uther; it had aged him appropriately, and healed the wounds in his soul significantly. The man had gone from being a powerful noble in a crumbling kingdom, to the man who conquered and secured the thrown by marrying Igraine. So that by the time fate decided to throw their next obstacle at Uther.

Uther had already been king for a while, and already he had caused a fair amount of bloodshed for those who possessed magic. He would tell you at that time that he was not against magic. However he already had a deep rooted loathing for it. When he met Igraine he was simply paranoid that he would lose her as well to magic, which made it so much easier for the fates to tip him over the edge.

**…**

Uther’s unconscious fear of magic was not foolish, especially when the fates held such a grudge against him. As one day he witnessed a sorcerer standing over his wife’s bed, using magic to slowly drain the life from her. In a rage Uther killed the sorcerer standing over his wife. However the damage was already done, she was already well on her way to death.

This turn of events hardened Uther’s heart completely to magic. Causing him to start what would soon be known as the Great Purge. Many with magic would die, not even children were spared from Uther’s rage. He killed so many with magic that the balance of the world was tipped greatly; many races were decimated, including most of the dragons, and dragon lords.

However the fates still did not feel that they were done. Uther still wasn’t broken; he was still quite whole, despite how cracked and twisted he appeared. They still had work to do.

On a whim they made his wife barren; they made it so that her condition did not allow for her to give Uther an heir. Uther during one of his darkest moments turned to a sorceress who he had recently captured. He wanted to at least have something of his Igraine left. She only had 2 years left; during that time he must be able to have a child with her. A child would surely be able to keep the memory of his Igraine alive.

This sorceress, bitter with revenge, knew exactly how to help Uther. She even knew how she could cure Igraine and give her more than simply 2 years to live. However, Uther had already burned any bridge of which he could cross to receive help from those in the magical community. So instead of curing his dear Igraine, she instead granted Uther’s wish, and allowed for his wife to bear a child, despite the fact that she knew Igraine would not live.

Uther who truly was not one to be ungrateful allowed the sorceress to live, set her free without knowing what exactly she had done. He simply believed her promise that Igraine would be able to survive the 9 months of her pregnancy and live out the rest of her 2 years with Uther.

9 months passed, and it became quite apparent to all those around Igraine, that this pregnancy would kill her, for as her belly grew, she became weaker. Many tried to warn Uther, to tell him that he should prepare for the worst. Uther however simply would not believe them. He clung so desperately to the sorceresses promise that his dear Igraine would survive this. He refused to believe what he already knew. The sorceress had lied and stolen most of what little time he had been assured with his Igraine.

**…**

The day came when Igraine would bear her child, she strained herself, summoned the last of her strength to bring her child into the world, having already known that it was very likely that she and her child would not survive the pregnancy. However, she was determined to at least hold her child before she died, and there was no possible way which she would leave Uther without someone to keep him grounded.

She prayed for at least 5 seconds to name her child, before summoning everything she had to help her bring her child into the world.

The fates were not entirely cruel and evil; they felt slight guilt for bringing this cruel fate upon Igraine. She was such a sweet and wonderful woman, who would have lived a long and happy life had they not decided it would be better to use her to break Uther. She had been strong and healthy, willful and spirited. The very least they could do was give her time to spend with her child. To honor her life in any little way they could.

**…**

Igraine had been in labor for almost a full day before the sound of a baby’s crying could be heard. Igraine was weak, and she was holding on with everything she had so that she could at least see her child.

Uther held his child in his arms, marveling at how small it was. He moved over to sit by Igraine, to share their little bundle of joy with her. Not even once during that moment did he even think that his child would be without a mother for most of its life.

Igraine with what little life she had, smiled, and looked the baby over, memorizing every little thing. She took her child into her arms. She felt so weak, and knew that her time was short; however she treated this moment as if she had all the time in the world. It wasn’t long before she finally realized that she was near her end. She took her time in looking to see if her little angel would be a prince, or a princess.

**…**

Igraine did not seem to realize how unfortunate it was that she had not borne a son. Or she simply refused to see anything negative about her daughter’s birth. She only wished to see the beautiful deep blue eyes, and the soft tuft of dark hair at the top of her head. She already knew exactly what her daughter’s name would be.

Taking a shaky breath, she strained herself to kiss her daughters forehead, holding her close as the little princess cried at the shock of being alive, before she closed her eyes and uttered her daughter’s name in her dying breath.

“Merlin.”

And with that, the fair Igraine slipped away from the world, cracking Uther’s heart to where he would never be able to love again.

 


	2. Don't Insult the Commoners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for this entire story came to me when I thought; What if Arthur got thrown in the stocks instead of Merlin?

**Chapter 1 – Don't insult the commoners**

_20 years 9 months and 15 days later…_

_**~Uther’s POV~** _

Uther had a lot to prepare for; there was so much to do before that night. The castle had been thrown into chaos; servants were running around, setting up decorations, organizing rooms for the guests, and already making the huge meal required for that night, the reason being that exactly 20 years ago he placed the ban on magic. Exactly 20 years since that damned sorcerer set in motion the events that would steal Igraine from him. 20 years of no curses, witch burnings, dragon slayings, and bountiful harvests.

As well as nearly 20 years without his dear Igraine, nearly 20 years without having seen her beautiful smile, nearly 20 years without her wonderful singing voice, nearly 20 years of a kingdom without a queen, and a daughter without a mother.

However, Uther wasn't going to linger on the bad things, he was going to revel in the good, his kingdom was thriving, his people were happy, and no one had used magic to kill anyone close to him. Which Uther was reluctant to admit, was something that happened to him quite often.

He had grown up over the course of the years, his brown hair had turned gray in areas and his hairline was receding. He had a scar that moved down his forehead and faded at his eyebrow. His grey eyes were intense, and showed very little of the warm he had once given out freely. His face was pinched hard in what looked to be a permanent scowl. He looked now to be a man which did not smile much, unless it was required of him. It was mostly because of years of grief, of mourning, of anger.

However Uther wasn't thinking about any of that at the moment. He was more worried about where his daughter Merlin was. It was a hectic day, many preparation for that nights feast were under way. However they were nearly running out of time for the execution of the most recently exposed sorcerer. It was scheduled to be happen at midday, only an hour away, however Merlin was nowhere to be found.

He knew that she didn't like to attend the executions, and normally he would never require her to, but after the execution was when Uther intended to formally acknowledge 20 years of his ban on magic. It was no time for the princess to be running off like she usually did. Uther thought that maybe he should assign a knight to follow her around and keep a close eye on her. Gods knew how much trouble the girl could get into, and she did have a knack for sneaking way from her maidservant.

"Hunith!" The king's voice could be heard across the castle, calling for his daughter's caretaker. He hoped that maybe she would at least have an inkling about where the young princess ran off to.

Just as Uther called for his daughter's caretaker, she appeared from behind a corner, lifting her skirts so that she could walk faster without tripping over them but also so that she didn't show too much by revealing her ankles.

His daughter's caretaker was a woman who looked as if she had aged quite gracefully. Her hair was still a lovely brown, which caught the light and showed that it was tinted red. Her eyes were of a lovely light blue color which showed her age, yet displayed an innocence of a girl. The lines of which had formed on her face only made her look even lovelier, they showed that she smiled often, and laughed freely. She looked to be the kind of woman of which one would get along with perfectly.

"Yes Sire?" The older woman bowed to Uther in respect, but also in a way of which dictated she was a woman who had served the royal family for years. She was perfectly capable of standing beside his daughter and making sure she turned into a fine young lady. As it was her duty.

"What has happened to my daughter? She was to come to the council room to join us about half an hour ago!" Uther shouted, clearly irritated that his daughter would disobey his orders. She was far too spirited, which tended to cause problems for Uther, as she seemed to be at that age of which she liked to rebel and cause trouble for him.

The caretaker let out a sigh before looking up at Uther with a look of exasperation and agitation that seemed to match Uther's. Uther couldn't help but think that his daughters tutor was acting like a mother would when her child has run off.

"She seems to have disappeared Sire, I have no idea where she might have run off to this time."

Oh bollocks.

…

**~Merlin’s POV~**

The clang of metal against metal was a soothing sound, it gave you the feeling that someone strong was nearby, ready to jump into action if someone were in need of assistance.

To Merlin however, it more so sounded like someone banging their metal cups against the prison bars, waiting for the guards to decide to feed them. To Merlin it sounded like the people who would not hesitate to kill her if they found out what she could truly do.

However that wasn't the entire reason Merlin hid behind the racks of swords, trying her hardest to remember the spell of which Gaius had taught her. It was a spell meant to change her appearance and make her look like nothing but a servant. She was trying to keep herself from having to attend the execution; she wished not to see another of her kin killed before her eyes. She knew exactly the spell that would help her with that, make others look at her, and see no noble traits about her what so ever.

Although it didn't seem to be doing her any good, as her brain simply refused to remind her of the spell.

She was drawing a blank.

A complete.

And utter.

Blank.

What good was learning a spell if you couldn't remember it? Gaius would probably end up berating her for her incompetence later; after all he had every right to berate her, for everything that he has done for her.

Merlin a tall gangly girl, with large ears, long raven hair, and stunningly deep blue eyes, was the only daughter to Uther Pendragon, the king of Camelot, and most well-known person within the five kingdoms. Known widely for his profound hatred against magic, and immovable attitude about how all who practiced it should be slaughtered.

It was extremely ironic.

Having been born with magic Merlin herself was one of the creatures of which Uther thrived to destroy. She probably would have been executed years ago, more than likely when she started to display her magical talents when she was only an infant. She'd been told once that she sneezed and made the fireplace flare, and when she hurt her nose she shattered the vases.

It was a miracle Uther didn't know about his daughter's magic, seeing how little control she had over it when she was small.

Merlin was more than just a little lucky for the fact that the nursemaid who had attended to Merlin had been someone who hid magical being's and their families. Her nursemaid had made sure to hide Merlin's talents, only telling a few trustworthy people in the castle about Merlin, and setting up a system with which they could make sure the king never found out. They all did this for two main reasons. 1. Merlin could not be blamed from something of which she was born with and 2. Uther would be crushed if he ever found out.

They all knew that the king was not evil; he was simply scarred beyond repair. His pure heart crushed, and soul tainted forever more. He was still a good man, and a fair king. They would simply have to wait, wait until Merlin grew older and took over the throne. They would simply have to lay low until then.

Merlin couldn't believe how much she felt as if she were disappointing them. Really, this was a simple spell, and Merlin had such powerful magic. You would think that because she was born with such powerful magic that she would be good at remembering spells! You would think that she would already be making new spells, and thinking up new ways to turn people into frogs, and break curses.

But, no.

Merlin couldn't do any of that.

Yes she was born with magic.

Yes she could send a grown man flying without even batting an eye.

Yes, she could easily cause the horses to run away and the cats that snuck into the castle to float down to the ground.

But she couldn't seem to remember one stupid little spell, which left her hiding behind a rack of swords, not even daring to breathe in case someone found her.

It was at that moment which she heard rowdy laughter, and taunts from behind the sword stand, as well as a voice of which she knew very well.

"You mean like this sir?"

Peeking from behind the sword stand Merlin looked to see where the voice was coming from. After which she cursed in a most un-princess like manner and moved behind the sword stand again.

It seemed that some of the knights had decided that they wanted to pick on the servants again, well to be more specific; they decided that they wanted to pick on one of the servants who knew about Merlin and her magic, a boy about the same age as Merlin by the name of Will. And at that moment in time they were throwing daggers at the poor boy while he ran around with a wooden shield, trying his best not to trip. While the knights joked and laughed, one particular knight, throwing the daggers while the rest watched.

Merlin being the kind soul that she was simply couldn't allow this to continue, hissing under her breath she suddenly found that she could remember the words to the spell.

_"_ _Āhýde_ _min_ _æðelu_ _"_

A tint of gold clouded over her vision before she stood and stalked over to the battlefield with purpose.

…

**~Arthur’s POV~**

Arthur found that he wasn't enjoying himself with the knights as much as he would have imagined he would. He had only recently come to Camelot, and already he was finding that the Camelot knights weren't all they were cracked up to be. Most of them couldn't even last 5 seconds against him, which was something even his manservant back home could do. The knights that could last against him however were arrogant and treated their status as if nothing could ever take it from them. Although Arthur truly did not like them, he did respect them enough to give them a chance. However Arthur was ashamed to say that the knight’s antics were childish, games raunchy, and their behavior all around unpleasant and brutish.

Arthur fit right in with them.

Arthur was the kind of person who you would admire from afar, and sneak glances at from the side. He looked every bit like a noble, and acted every bit like one too. With his blond hair, blue eyes, and overall sturdy build, he acted rather cocky. Although none could argue that he was anything but an excellent swordsman. Arthur had earned every right to be cocky and arrogant, and could very easily back up any claims he laid down. However it did tend to make many believe that Arthur was nothing more than a bully flaunting his skills. Which did have some truth to it, Arthur was a complete and utter show off.

The physician's assistant Will was probably one of the more frequent targets, of the more skilled knights. With his brown hair, blue eyes, scrawny build, cocky attitude, and tendency to sneer at the nobles when he thought no one was looking. He unwittingly incited anger in most of the knights, even some of the more humble knights who treated servants graciously. Arthur felt as if for some reason he needed to be the one to cause him grief, Arthur may be a prat but he didn't want to see the servant boy get hurt, so he took it upon himself to make him run around with that shield in hand so he could throw daggers at him. He knew for a fact that he wouldn't miss, and could make sure the servant didn't get roughed up by the more violent knights.

Will dropped the shield and it rolled to the feet of another. Arthur couldn't help but frown at the boy; he looked to be no more than a mere commoner, what in the world was he doing here?

"I do believe that is enough." The boy said, offering his hand to Will and lifting him to his feet, before bending to pick the shield and hand it back to Will.

A fit of laughter came from the knights around Arthur, and even Arthur himself couldn't help but to smile. He couldn't help it, it was funny.

"Excuse me?" Arthur replied, approaching the boy in a condescending manner, crossing his arms over his chest as he towered over the two boys.

"I do believe you've had your fun my friend." He said, looking up at Arthur with hostility in his eyes. He had a hat on his head that shaded his face, but his eyes were clear. Arthur couldn't help but be a little enthralled with the boys eyes; they were of the deepest blue Arthur had ever seen. His ears were rather large, he had a small figure, almost like a woman's, his skin was pale, and he looked as if he didn't spend much time outside. Arthur stared for a while before shaking it off, feeling ridiculous for staring at a man as if he were a woman.

"Do I know you?" Arthur asked the boy, still in the condescending tone. He did note however when the boy tensed a little before he turning away.

"I don't believe so." He replied, turning his back to Arthur, and leaning towards Will and pushing the servant away. The servant boy, nodded before running off. Arthur couldn't help but growl a little, who did this boy think that he was?

"And yet you called me friend?" Arthur replied, hand resting on the boys shoulder and turning him around. He frowned a little at the feel of the boys shoulder, not much muscle, and soft.

"My mistake," The boy said, making Arthur feel just a little bit better and as if he had no need to teach the boy some manners. "I would never have a friend who could be such an ass."

The smile on Arthurs face disappeared, as the boy smirked and the knight behind him sniggered. Arthur felt the need to defend his honor. He was one of the most powerful nobles under King Uther; the only ones who could outrank him were the King, the Princess, the Kings Ward, and Arthurs father. This boy wasn't Arthur's father, nor did he look like the King, so there was no reason why Arthur should sit there and take any shite from this boy.

"Nor I a friend who could be so stupid. Tell me, do you know how to walk on your knees?" He asked while drawing his sword. The boy's lips pursed at his question and Arthur couldn't help but notice the way he drew back a little, confused.

"No."

Arthur grinned a little and continued. "Would you like me to help you with that?" The knights laughed hard at this, and Arthur noticed a hint of a blush on the boys cheeks, before he stood straighter and his hands went to his hips.

"I wouldn't if I were you." The boy replied, his tone full of warning and what sounded like a threat, Arthur couldn't help but laugh heartily.

"Why? What're you going to do to me?" He noted the way in which the boy sighed, and stood up straight.

"You have no idea." He stated, deciding that he wished to piss Arthur off more by being as vague as possible.

Arthur laughed a little before moving forward. "I severely doubt that you could do anything to me?' He stated poking the boy at the chest, but stopped, his face falling, he poked the boy's chest again. Watching the boy-no GIRL suddenly turn beat red, and turning away harshly, her hat falling off revealing long curly locks of hair that fell down her back and made it stupidly obvious that Arthur had just severely hurt her honor by poking at her chest. He bristled a little and stuttered.

"Oh-ah, u-u-u-umm…" He watched as she turned around again, and looked straight at the knights, who Arthur had noted, all tensed before going deathly pale. Arthur briefly wondered for a moment who he had insulted.

"Take him to the stocks…"

Arthur frowned for a minute as the knights all grabbed him with pitying looks, he was a little shocked. "Wait a minute, who do you think you are? The Queen?"

He watched her face fall a little as he said this, and then dreaded his words when she spoke up.

"No but I am her daughter, Merlin."

…

**~Merlin’s POV~**

Merlin couldn't believe that she actually ended up attending the execution, especially after she had taken so much effort in trying to avoid it at all costs.

_"You just HAD to_ _confront_ _that_ _prat_ _, DIDN'T you Merlin?"_

She mentally berated herself for her stupidity, as she watched the sorcerer Thomas Collins being led to the platform, where the executioner was waiting with an axe. Her fists clenched at her sides, at this sight, she didn't want to see another person who she couldn't save die. She didn't want to see another brother die.

She could already feel the tears building up in her eyes. Unclenching her fists she pinched her thigh to hold them back. She closed her eyes and took deep calming breaths, centering herself enough to hold back her tears. Her tears wouldn't help her any in this situation, they would only look suspicious.

Opening her eyes she listened to her father explain to the masses how Thomas Collins was accused of using enchantments, and conspiring to use sorcery. He went on to explain how he would not show any lenience to those who practiced magic, nor would he allow any lenience to sympathizers. This comment caused Merlin to flinch; she looked down at the masses, trying her best not to give into her urge to run away. She was a princess; there was so much pressure on her to act right, despite the circumstances.

She blamed that prat for this, if he hadn't been messing with Will, she wouldn't have been forced to go and defend her friend. Then the guards who had been searching for Merlin would have never caught her, she would have been able to sneak into the dungeons and help Thomas escape

_"Stupid_ _Prat_ _."_ She thought, planning on making the prat pay for making her watch this. It was a small comfort, being able to blame someone beside her father for the pain she felt, a break from blaming herself for not being able to save Thomas, a comfort for not being able to help him escape. After all, that WAS the main reason she was sneaking around the castle, she was trying to make her way to the dungeons to free the poor Thomas Collins.

Once more she glanced down to Thomas Collins, sending a message to him with her mind, something she had been taught by a few druids she'd met when she was small. She remembered those druids fondly, they had taught her many things about herself, and prompted her to meet with all those in the castle who conspired to save as many magical creatures as possible. So that she too could help to save as many as possible. It was unfortunate that it had taken the death of those druids to get her to move to help so many others in their same situation.

_"I am sorry I could not save you Thomas."_ She sent, a tone of care, sorry, anguish, and regret present in her minds voice.

She met his shocked eyes with her own sorrowful ones, nodding at him, sending him words of comfort.

_"Be brave; don't let any of them see your weakness."_

Merlin watched him briefly smile at her, then standing up tall, a look of defiance showing in his eyes, along with hope, before he replied to her, with a message of his own.

_"There is hope for this Kingdom yet, Princess."_

He lowered his head down to the chopping block, as a hood was placed over his head.

_"Look away princess."_

Merlin swallowed, she didn't want to look away, she wanted to be able to honor him by witnessing his death, and appropriately mourning it.

The executioner raised his axe.

Thomas tensed.

Merlin tensed.

Uther looked down with anticipation.

The axe fell.

The sickening sound of bone cracking and skin separating could be heard.

The crowd gasped.

Merlin flinched.

Uther grinned.

Thomas's head rolled away.

Merlin's mind screamed, while her heart cried.

Merlin clenched her fists to her sides, staring at the guards as they gathered Thomas Collins remains, and the black hood that held his head. She wanted so badly to run away, but she wouldn't, she had made a silent promise to Thomas Collins that she would appropriately mourn him. She would stand tall, and listen to Uther, she would be brave.

…

**~Uther’s POV~**

Uther was stupidly happy, another sorcerer was dead, and another bearer of magic was wiped from the earth. His magic couldn't harm anyone now; his magic couldn't taint the people of his kingdom again. His magic couldn't reach Merlin now either.

Standing up taller than he had before, Uther moved to address the people.

"People of Camelot 20 years ago, this kingdom were in chaos! 20 years ago magic ran rampant, causing strife, and chaos! We lived in constant fear of those who would use their magic to do us harm! Today, I move to acknowledge the fact that 20 years ago a ban was placed on magic! Changing all of that, we no longer live in fear, we no longer worry about those who use magic to instill fear in us!" Uther smiled widely looking over his people.

"20 years ago I announced a festival to celebrate this! And tomorrow night we will formally acknowledge that we have lived 20 years, in peace, without the evil of magic!" Uther lifted his hand in a flourish, signaling that his speech was finished. The crowd erupted into cheer, and the two girls behind him, Merlin and Morgana both started clapping as well. Although Uther noticed that they weren't as happy as Uther would have thought they would be.

Uther turned to confront the two girls and ask what was wrong. Although he already knew what they would say, they were displeased with having had to sit through the execution; they were displeased that ANYONE had to die. Even if that person was a sorcerer, the girls were both so caring like that; he wished to keep it that way.

He watched the two of them rise at the same time, and opened his mouth to inform them of the necessity of the execution. However he was stopped by a mourning wail coming from behind him. Uther frowned and turned around to see who had let out such a mournful wail.

He turned sharply, a glare in his eyes; this was no time for someone to wail. It was a time to cheer. He moved to call out and demand to know who was insulting him with such, but stopped when he heard the sound of an old voice full of sorrow.

"There is only one evil in this kingdom, and it is not magic! It is you!" He heard someone cry out, causing Uther's temper to flare, who would dare criticize him? The King!

His eye fell on an old woman who stood out in the crowd, being singled out in a circle, as those around her, moved away warily, wishing not to be associated with someone who would dare to speak out against the King.

"It is you with your hatred, and ignorance!" The old hag spat out, shuffling forward a little to approach the elevated ground where the execution had taken place.

"You killed my son!" She screeched, causing the crowd to gasp a little and Uther to truly understand why the woman would dare speak up against him. A mother's grief was something that would bring out the fiercest of beast in women. He'd seen it many times, mothers whose children were in danger simply transformed, and became fierce enough to take down 20 trained knights. It allowed them to become so enraged that they would even challenge a King.

"He did you no harm!" She screeched, glaring at Uther, tears spilling from her eyes.

Uther spoke up, knowing the pain and being able to sympathize with it. "He was a sorcerer!" He stated simply. "I cannot tolerate those who would practice magic." He stated, holding absolutely no regret in his voice.

He could physically see the old hag inflate, anger ever prevalent on her face. "I promise you Uther Pendragon; before the celebrations come to an end you will share my tears!" She screeched, pointing her glare to Uther's right where Merlin was sitting, her face turning as white as a sheet.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," She screeched, pointing to Merlin while her glare penetrated Uther, causing his fury to boil over, and his protective instincts to come out. "And a child for a child!"

"Merlin Pendragon will die!" She screeched, causing Uther to call out to his guards.

"Seize her!" He boomed, before he watched in both amazement and anger as the old hag spun around and shouted out ancient words of which Uther would know anywhere.

The witch disappeared in a flurry of rising smoke, and blowing winds, evading his guards, and causing Uther's heart to sink.

"Double the guards! And make sure that at least 3 guards accompany the princess at all times!"

**…**

**~Arthur’s POV~**

Arthur could already feel the sun burning his back. His back felt raw and stung whenever a rotten piece of vegetable or fruit hit his back. He grimaced when a potato landed on his back and scraped the bare skin of his back uncomfortably.

He really regretted having opened his big fat mouth to try and teach that commoner some respect. Although in his defense, he had no idea that the princess liked to dress up in men's cloths and sneak around the castle. It was a piece of information of which he would remember the next time that he decided he wanted to mess with a peasant in a hat.

He didn't want to end up in the same position twice.

Being forced to bend so that his head and arms could be shoved into small holes on a stupid wooden plank was not pleasant, especially when he was forced to take off his shirt and sit baking in the sun for an extended period of time. That wasn't the worst of it however, as at some point or another; the children had decided that it would be fun to throw rotten vegetables and fruit at the stupid noble who insulted the princess.

Once Arthur was free, he was going to hunt down every one of those brats and make sure that they found themselves submerged in horse manure.

_"Stupid brats, you'll get yours, just you wait and see"_

After what seemed like hours, Arthur couldn't help but to notice that the little brats had finally run out of vegetables, he breathed a sigh of relief, allowing himself to relax for a moment. Although he didn't let himself get to use to it, as he simply knew that the little rats would be back with something harder to throw at him. No one would deny them anything to throw at the knight; it was a guilty pleasure of which they all enjoyed. Watching people being humiliated in the stocks.

"Tough crowd isn't it?"

Arthur jumped a little, snapping his eyes to look around at who had said that. His eyes landed on a gangly, cocky, grinning servant boy. In fact, his eyes landed on the same gangly, cocky, grinning servant boy whom Arthur had been throwing daggers at earlier. Arthur groaned a little at him, sending him a glare that could kill.

"What do you want?" Arthur spat, looking truly undignified and silly glaring at the servant boy as if he could do something. At this the servant boy grinned, and Arthur swore that once he got out he was going to strangle him.

"I just came to see if you wanted to get out of the stocks early. But it looks like you don't want to so I guess I'll just-" The servant trailed off as he turned to leave, before Arthur's eyes snapped open and he shouted at the servant.

"Wait!" He shouted a little too eagerly, causing the servant to turn sharply and send an amused grin at Arthur.

"You could get me out of the stocks?" Arthur asked, although, now that he said it out loud, it didn't seem likely that a mere servant would be able to get him out of the stocks. Especially since Arthur was there under the Princess's orders.

Arthur caught the self-satisfying smirk that crossed the servants face.

"Of course I could." He stated turning to Arthur with a grin on his face that dictated Arthur would regret listening to this servant later.

"How?" Arthur asked, simply out of curiosity more than anything else.

The servant boy held up a finger and waved it back and forth like a metronome. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. First things first. You must tell me you're sorry."

Arthurs jaw ticked at this little announcement, he wanted to shout at him that he didn't need to apologize. Arthur had actually done the servant boy a favor. The things that the other knights had suggested doing to him were far worse than making him run around with a shield. The servant was luckier than he realized, Arthur throwing daggers at him was much better than allowing all the knights to gang up on him and use him as a practice dummy. Arthur would have never missed the target. The servant would have gone around with little more than heavy limbs. While if he had allowed the knights to do what they wanted they would have surely caused him much more harm than they had intended. All was fun and games until someone got hurt. No one knew that better than Arthur, which was exactly why he had done what he did.

Swallowing the urge to scream at the servant Arthur closed his eyes once more, before taking a deep breath and speaking. "And then what?" He asked, simply knowing for a fact that this servant boy would want something more than just an apology.

The servant boy's eyes widened a bit, as if he was surprised that Arthur would ask a question like that.

"What makes you think that I would want anything else?" He asked, sounding far too innocent to "actually" be innocent.

Arthur snorted a bit. "Please, you don't strike me as someone willing to do things for something as simple as an apology. You'll want something else, like a favor."

The servant boy smirked. "Very perceptive and absolutely correct. I do want a favor."

_"I knew it."_ Arthur thought to himself, before continuing. "So what is it?" He asked, wanting to make sure that it wasn't something too bad. He didn't want to be subjected to something worse than being in the stocks.

The servant shook his head again. "I haven't decided that bit yet." He stated, moving over to lean on the wooden plank of which Arthur was secured into.

_"Bullshit."_ Arthur thought to himself. _"You just don't want to tell me you little prick."_ Arthur thought bitterly.

Swallowing a little at the prospect of being stuck in the stocks for much longer, he spoke up. "If you don't tell me I'm gonna have to say no." The servants face fell, before he sighed.

Arthur saw out of the corner of his eye that the children had returned, with baskets of what looked to be-

_"Oh no…"_ Arthur cursed under his breath at what the children had in their hands. They had what looked to be harder, MUCH harder, very rough skinned potatoes that would rub against his sunburnt back, and leave bruises all over his body.

The servant grinned at the children, before turning back to Arthur. "Are you sure about that? Your fans look a little too eager to see you, and judging by the look of your back, I don't think those potatoes will feel too nice."

Arthur glowered at Will before squirming a little in the stocks. "Fine, fine! I'll owe you one! Now hurry up and get me out of here!"

The servant boy chuckled a little before continuing. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Arthur let out and exasperated sigh. "I'm sorry for making you run around with that shield while I threw daggers at you. NOW HURRY UP!"

Chuckling, the servant nodded and moved over to Arthur, pulling a key from his pocket and undoing the chains and locks that kept Arthur in the stocks. He helped Arthur stand upright before handing him a shirt. Arthur couldn't help but look at the guards warily as they simply watched the servant boy let Arthur out, they had amused smirks on their faces, and didn't move to stop him. Arthur frowned, was this boy some sort of noble as well? Had he been insulting someone who was a higher rank than him by accident? Was there another person of higher rank than him that he didn't know about? He wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. If the day he was having was any clue.

Standing up to put his shirt on, Arthur ignored the hisses that the children were throwing at the pair. He shrugged his shirt, grimacing at the rotten juices on his body, before sending a sideways glance to the servant boy.

"I never got your name." Arthur said, wanting to make sure that he would always be able to put a name with the face of the servant who had freed him from the stocks. Or possible to make sure that he was indeed a servant and not a noble in disguise.

Smiling a little, the servant returned the key for the chains to his pocket before, patting Arthur on the back, purposely hitting his sunburnt back rather hard.

"The name's Will." He grinned at Arthur's show of discomfort at being slapped on his sunburn, before adding something else. "Sir Arthur."

**…**

**~Will’s POV~**

It can be said that Will does not do things for charity. He never has and never will. His number one rule in life is to look out for himself, before even thinking about looking after someone else. It's been that way since he was a child and his father was killed in Essetir's army.

His father had been his role model, he was someone who fought for others and protected the weak, even going as far as to protect a prostitute who was being harassed. He never left anyone in need, and it was for exactly that reason he was killed. During a war between Essetir and Camelot, a fellow knight had been knocked from his horse; Will's father had been unwilling to leave a comrade, so he rode back to help his fellow knight, which had resulted in his untimely demise.

He watched his mother grieve the loss, and watched as she appealed to the King to somehow compensate for the loss. He learned that no one would care for him when King Cenred laughed in his mother's face, and left them to fend for themselves.

Will blamed his father for his mother's grief. Will blamed his father for leaving them to fend for themselves. Will blamed his father and his unlimited charity.

Will wouldn't do things for charity.

But he also wouldn't be completely self-centered.

Which was the reason why Will hadn't simply left Arthur to suffer after letting him out of the stocks, he would made sure to get the knights back treated before leaving him to his own devices. After all, the knight was new to Camelot and didn't really know his way around. The very least that Will could do would be to take Arthur to the physician Gaius to have him look at Arthur's back. It looked pretty badly burned.

Gaius, the court physician was a wise, blue eyed, white haired old man. He had been in service to the kingdom for many years, and was well known for being a confidant to the King as well as the long time physician.

Will had known the physician since he was 7. They met during a particularly dreadful summer when he and a handful of villagers had come to Camelot to be treated for a strange sickness that had spread through their village. His mother had been one of those to contract the sickness. She was also one of the few who hadn't made it, even after Gaius had managed to find a cure. No one else from Ealdor was willing to take Will in, so instead they left in him Camelot with Gaius.

Will had thought at the time that he would just have to leave and start to make his only living. That he would just have to leave and fend for himself. However, every time Will got his tiny knapsack together and moved to leave. Gaius would saddle the young boy with some sort of chore or send him off on an errand that would tire him out and require him to stay another night.

It had flustered Will to no end, and confused him. Why didn't Gaius let him leave? Surely he didn't want to take care of some snot nosed brat who always got into trouble for sneering at the nobles?

Will didn't address the issue until one day, when Gaius had asked him to clean his leech tank.

"Why are you doing this Gaius?" Will had asked, all 45 gangly inches of him sending a glare at Gaius that looked neither menacing nor threatening.

Gaius being the kind (and infuriating) man that he was, feigned ignorance. "Doing what, boy?"

Will huffed at this response before continuing, acting every bit like the 7 year old that he really was, instead of the "adult" that he so desperately tried to be. "Why do you always stop me from leaving?"

Cocking his eyebrows Gaius looked down at the 7 year old. "Why wouldn't I?"

That simple statement didn't make much sense to Will, since he was only 7 years old. "What's that supposed to mean?" He cried out, his voice rising and foot stamping.

Rolling his eyes at the naïve little boy, Gaius exerted the effort to kneel down to the boy level. "Listen Will, I am not going to let a child simply go out into the world by himself. You have no way of getting food or making money. No one would take you seriously. What kind of person would I be if I left you to take care of yourself?"

Will wasn't satisfied with that answer; he thought that for sure he would be able to provide for himself! Gaius was wrong! However Gaius had decided that the conversation was over, and left it at that, refusing to talk any more about it. He simply let Will stay with him, acting as if Will had been there his entire life. He assigned Will chores, asking him to run errands for him, and taught him all about medicine and the scientific process.

It wasn't until much later in his life that Will truly realized that Gaius had been right. If Will had left at that age, he would have never been able to survive. Gaius had saved Will's life, and he was truly grateful.

Will says that he only cares for himself, but the truth is that he would gladly put Gaius before himself. He would gladly provide selflessly for his only family.

However he would have to get compensation from Arthur.

Will guided the sour knight through the castle, past indifferent guards, and amused servants. Everyone they passed took one look at the indignant (tomato covered) knight and knew exactly who he was. Gossip spread like wildfire in the castle. So by now, everyone knew about how Arthur had mistaken the princess for a simple commoner. It was the talk of the castle, and would probably continue to be the talk of the castle for some time afterwards.

Never mind that the princess had been dressed as a man, or that she had carried herself like a commoner. He should have known better. He deserved it, for acting like such a bully towards the servants. After all you really never knew which noble or royal was dressing up as a commoner in this city.

Don't insult the commoners.

It was a definite rule here.

Will was no exception to the fact that he wished to humiliate the knight as much as possible. Seeing as he simply did not like nobles in general. Plus he had witnessed the way of which Arthur had spoken to Merlin in disguise, and saw where the prat had poked her. He was going to give Arthur so much grief, and the prat wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. No one was allowed to insult his best friend like that.

Absolutely no one.

Merlin and Will had known each other ever since Will had arrived in Camelot. The little princess at that time had been sweet, kind, loving, and probably sneakier than anyone Will had ever known.

When they had first met, Will had just been exploring the castle after being shooed away by Gaius while he treated Will's mother. Will was bored, and there was a big castle to explore. The guards didn't seem to notice Will as he snuck into the kitchen and took some food. Nor did they notice him as he hid behind the sword racks in their armory while he ate it. It seemed the guards didn't notice a lot of things, since it was behind that sword rack where Will had met the Princess. It was also behind that sword rack he made a friend of which he would have for the rest of his life. A friend named Merlin.

Merlin at that time had been running away from the guards, trying to wriggle her way out of attending a tournament by hiding until it was over. The winner was to receive their prize from a 6 year old Merlin, as well as being given the honor of being allowed to escort Merlin to the banquet being held in their own honor.

Merlin had expected to be hiding and camping out for a few days, so she had brought a knapsack, and dressed herself in commoner's cloths. Merlin had been quite upset with her father for promising things of which Merlin hadn't agreed with. So she had decided simply to sneak out of the castle at nightfall and return when the tournament was over.

Merlin didn't really see the appeal in sitting through an event where grown men threw each other around with sharp metal instruments. Nor did she feel like having to kiss a sweaty man on the cheek. So she hid in the one place where no one would image she would hide; behind a big rack of "sharp metal instruments."

Will had been surprised at that moment, when a little girl suddenly sat with him behind a sword rack and claimed to be the princess. He hadn't believed her at first, and started to play along, saying that he was a prince of Essetir. She seemed to be delighted at this, and started asking him all sorts of questions like; what was it like in his kingdom, and if he had just as many knights running after him as she did? Will answered her as best he could, wondering what kind of princess she was pretending to be. After all he didn't know of any girls who would pretend to be a princess who runs away from her knights and catches frogs instead of kissing them. Merlin was very strange to Will, and he enjoyed her company immensely.

It wasn't until much later when two knights heard the two laughing behind the sword rack did Will learn that Merlin really was a princess, and that she wasn't trying to play some sort of game. It had shocked Will, and enraged Merlin to know that Will had pretended that he was some sort of prince. It took a lot of explaining to both of them before the situation fully sank in. It was a source of gossip and laughter for weeks after that, and an entertaining story they retold between themselves often. It was the story of how they had become friends.

Will and Merlin tried to spend as much time as possible together. They were good at keeping each other's secrets, and even better at causing mischief together. Will personally couldn't recall the number of time where Merlin and himself had taken chairs apart together, or hid underneath the king's bed to spy on him. He also couldn't remember the number of times he had been thrown in the stocks and Merlin locked up in her room for their mischief. The two were the terrors of the castle in their younger days.

Will took himself out of his thoughts and looked back at the knight. After his little trip down memory lane, he felt as if he really had no right to judge the prat for not knowing about Merlin's tendency to dress up as a commoner. After all, he'd made the exact same mistake when he met Merlin.

Granted he was much younger at the time.

And she didn't have breasts then.

Will continued to guide the knight through the castle, trying to take as much time as he could. Until after spending a little time with the noble prat, he had discovered that he was not so bad. So he decided to give the prat a break and lead him to the physician through the less travelled halls. After all, Will thought he had embarrassed him enough. He knew what the knight was going through. No one liked to be the topic of gossip.

At one point in Will and Merlin's lives, they were probably the topic of most gossip in the castle, with the way they constantly snuck out of the castle, and hid from the guards. They often received scandalous looks, and disapproving glances from the nobles. Merlin had just reached the age of 13, while Will was a little bit older at the age of 14. It was a strange time for both of them; they were just starting to fill out their bodies, and were becoming all around awkward. It was a time when most children were just starting to discover the opposite sex. Everyone had started to believe that the two were sneaking out for romantic rendezvous. When in reality they were just going out to the creek to cause some mischief.

No one liked being the center of attention.

It wasn't long before Will and the knight had arrived at the physicians chambers. They found that Gaius wasn't there, so Will took it upon himself to sit the knight down while he retrieved some salve to apply to the knights aching back.

Will approached the shelves, leaving Arthur to sit at the table with which Gaius and he use to eat breakfast and mix up potions on. He rifled through the shelves, searching for a salve that was particularly foul smelling to apply to the knights back. It wasn't because the salve was particularly effective; it was honestly just because he wanted to make the knight smell bad, all the while thinking about his friendship with Merlin.

More specifically, he thought about the incident of which he discovered Merlin's secret.

Will and Merlin had been swimming around in the river. They had snuck out of the castle while the servants were scurrying around to prepare for a banquet.

Merlin had managed to escape from her caretaker Hunith while Will had managed to finish all his chores for Gaius. The two decided to sneak out with Will to their secret spot by the creek.

At the time Will had been further down the stream, spearing fish to cook. He had just speared a trout and was wrapping it in leaves to dry before he set it over the fire, when he had heard Merlin scream. When he heard her scream he immediately shot up and ran further up the river to where he knew she was swimming. What he saw changed the way he saw Merlin and everything around her forever.

Merlin was just fine; she was standing in the river, in breeches and a tunic, staring up at something in the sky. At first it had struck Will as odd, why was she staring upwards? Until of course Will looked up as well. The 14 year olds eyes widened impossibly at what he saw. The bandits were unconscious and floating up 10 feet above Merlin's head, silent and unmoving. The thing that came to Will's mind first was; Magic. The second thing that came to his mind was; RUN!

Will automatically moved to Merlin's side, taking her by the arm and attempting to pull her away from the floating bandits. He was scared out of his mind, so coherent thoughts and reason weren't really reaching him. He hadn't noticed that there was no one else around, and he also hadn't noticed that Merlin was saying things in a strange language.

"C'mon Merlin there's a sorcerer nearby we need to leave!" He shouted, tugging Merlin in the other direction, stopping when he noticed she didn't want to move. Will looked back at her confused, and about to yell at her for being stubborn.

He stopped when he saw Merlin's eyes. Usually they were a deep tantalizing blue, but at that moment in time, they were a shimmering gold.

Will jumped, letting go of Merlin's arm and stepping 3 feet away from her. He felt extremely alarmed and afraid of his friend. His friend the "WITCH?"

He didn't know what to say, he was too shocked for coherent and reasonable thoughts to form in his mind. It was all gibberish, flashes of memories, random words, and screaming in the 14 year olds mind.

Merlin was trying to say something to Will her eye still that golden color. Will couldn't seem to hear her however, as blood was pounding in his ears, and his mind was still screaming at him. It seemed to be too much for the boy, as the next thing he remembers is falling.

At this memory Will chuckled a little, the situation at that time had been so strange. It was odd to find out that your best friend was a witch. It was even stranger to discover that your sovereign's daughter was a witch. It really was no wonder that Will had fainted at that information.

Will could remember trying to avoid Merlin for weeks after that, still far to overwhelmed at the thought of his best friend being a witch. He never told anyone, since she was still his best friend, and was also the king's daughter. If he threw that accusation around he would probably end up in the dungeons. No one would believe that the princess was a witch unless they saw it with their own eyes.

Will also recalled being cornered by the princess one day, along with her caretaker Hunith, Gaius, Sir Leon, and two servant who he didn't recognize. They all demanded of him that he keep it a secret, scaring Will half to death in the process. However it didn't really take much convincing to make Will agree. He'd had weeks to think it over, and had already decided that there was really nothing wrong with Merlin having magic. She was still the same person.

It was just one more secret that the two would share.

It wasn't long until Will found the salve he was looking for on one of the higher shelves in Gaius's chambers. It was where Will hid potions that Gaius tended to forget even existed. After all, Gaius tended to only used truly effective potions. If he ever made a potion that wasn't very effective, he tended to leave it on the side of a table until it fell over and broke onto the floor. Will really didn't see the point in wasting these potions, so he simply squirrelled them away, and sold them to people who were too embarrassed to go to the physician for help.

Mind you he always made sure to consult Gaius first. He wasn't going to be responsible for someone's death. Nor was he going to be responsible for giving someone the wrong potion and making their ailment worse. He wasn't irresponsible.

Potion in hand, the physician to be quickly returned to Arthur only to stop and stare at what the knight was doing.

"Arthur, why in the world are you purple?"

**…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flames, Comments, Suggestions? All are welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dont be mad at me, I'm making these chapters too long...

**Don’t Insult the Commoners PART 2**

**~Merlin’s POV~**

Merlin wasn’t very fond of shadows. They were sneaky, always moving, yet always staying out of your sight so that you could not see them. They were everywhere, yet you never seemed to notice them. The stuck to you, like spider webs, hidden in plain sight, which was why she always tried to swat them away, even if they were there by the kings orders.

Sir Leon and Sir Owaine were some of the best knights of Camelot, they were both leaders of the knights, and were currently battling over the position of leading the knights in their training.

Personally Merlin wanted Leon to lead the knights, he knew her secret, and was about as loyal as they came. It was simply a matter of politics in Merlin’s mind; she had seen the two fight before. They were of equal skill, never really able to best each other in battle. Naturally she leaned more towards the person of which she knew she could trust, and it would be nice to have the head of the knights on her side, especially when she needed to free a person with magic.

However she would rather not have to have both of them being her shadows. She had already tried to shake them off about 16 times in the past hour alone. She had failed each time, and as a result was stuck following “them” instead of the other way around. She felt indignant; a princess shouldn’t have to follow her knights around. Currently they were searching for Arthur, the newest knight of Camelot. 

Merlin knew exactly who it was they were searching for. It was hard to forget the face of the man who had so blatantly insulted her. Apparently he had already become one of the most skilled knights of which Camelot had to offer. He was meant to be the third knight to shadow her.

Merlin was NOT looking forward to that.

She didn’t want to have to see that stupid prat’s face wherever she looked. She didn’t want him to always be there just out of sight. She didn’t want to have to listen to him joke around with the other two knights while they trailed closely behind her. She didn’t want to have to try and brush him off like he was a cobweb.

If only she would have freed Thomas Collins sooner.

His head wouldn’t have separated from his body.

His body wouldn’t have been thrown into the flames.

His mother wouldn’t have felt the grief.

Merlin wouldn’t have to feel the grief.

Merlin wouldn’t need a shadow.

Merlin reasoned that her thoughts were selfish, and as a result was ashamed.

It was with those thoughts in her mind that Merlin felt the need to use her magic, a need to acknowledge the fact that she too had a right to mourn Thomas Collins. However being around Sir Owaine meant that she couldn’t actively her magic. If it was just Sir Leon then Merlin would have already willed a neon yellow tulip into her hand. But with the other knight standing only inches away she could only hold her head up tall and glare at whatever was in front of her.

During the events of the last 20 minutes Merlin had already made up her mind that she would have to leave behind both of her knights if she wanted to practice magic. After failing to escape from them the last time, Owaine was constantly glancing behind his back to make sure Merlin wasn’t trying to sneak away. He was overly suspicious of her. 

Merlin allowed herself to trail behind the two knights just a little, so that they couldn’t hear the spell that she was whispering under her breath. She had timed out her spell perfectly, making sure that Owaine wasn’t going to turn around and see her eye flash gold.

**“ _Butan éaggemearc_ ”**

Her eyes shimmered gold before she bolted in the other direction, her heels clicking noisily as she made her escape.

Sir Owaine and Sir Leon did not seem to hear the clicking of Merlin’s heels however. They continued off on their own, while Merlin escaped in the other direction. They didn’t even glance back at her, or notice the sound of her clicking heels as she ran from them.

There was really only one place of which Merlin would go. She needed to go see Will, or more specifically she needed to go and make sure that he didn’t let the blonde knight go early. She didn’t need him shadowing her; she “especially” didn’t need him shadowing her. Not when she already had 2 equally annoying tails that were impossible to shake without the use of her magic. Not when the addition of a third tail would only serve to make it impossible for Merlin to even use magic to escape them. 

In all honesty, having knight trail after Merlin was more trouble than it was worth. If she was alone and the witch showed up, she would be able to set the hags hair on fire just by looking at her. Instead she would be more concerned about making sure that her shadows didn’t see her eye flash before the witch’s head turned into the rotten pumpkins she’s seen the towns people throw at those in the stocks.

Her heels continued to click noisily as Merlin traveled through the halls. She grimaced at the sound; it was far too loud and no good for being sneaky. She cursed her maidservant and her insistence on making Merlin wear the silly things, before leaning up against a stone wall and slipping the (ridiculously uncomfortable) things off her feet.

Now that there was no threat of her heels alerting anyone to her presence Merlin rushed to where she knew Will would be, taking care to avoid servants and nobles alike. Will would most likely be in Gaius’s chambers, cleaning the physicians leech tank. It was about that time of the week. The leech tank was probably very dirty and required cleaning now. It was Will’s job to clean it, no matter how much he detested it.

When Merlin reached the door to Gaius’s chambers, she let out a sigh of relief, and moved to open the door. When the door was open far enough for Merlin to peek inside, she looked up before stopping and closing it again.

_“What is he doing here?”_

The knight, Arthur was in Gaius’s chambers, standing on front of the shelves of potions, messing around with them like an idiot as he sniffed a bottle filled with aconite. The fact that the blonde knight was even there ruined her plans completely. There was no way she could make a neon bouquet now.

Biting her lip, Merlin took a deep breath. It looked like she wasn’t going to be able to keep the prat in the stocks any longer. Nor did it look like she was going to be able to practice her magic in Gaius’s chambers. Not when Will had already let him out.

Sighing to her, Merlin opened the door just a crack, looking inside at the prat as he opened a bottle and sniffed the contents. She noticed that he grimaced before sealing the bottle once more and returning it to the shelf.

That gave her an Idea.

Peeking in the door once more, Merlin stared at the knight as he continued to pick bottle s from the shelf and sniff their contents. She grinned a little before staring at the shelf, her eyes flashing gold. 

Merlin would practice her magic even if she had to hide behind a door to do it.

The bottles on the shelf rattled a little in front of Arthur, causing the knight to jump before standing on his toes to try and figure out what had just happened.

Laughing on the inside, Merlin looked around the room for something else to draw the knight’s attention. Once she saw Gaius’s bed, her eyes flashed gold, causing it to shift a little to the side.

The knight spun around to frown at the bed, acting as if it was some sort of enemy as he grabbed a broom that was nearby. Glaring a little at the bed, he stalked over to it, kneeling down to check to make sure nothing was underneath. More than likely he seemed to believe that a rat was running around the physicians chambers.

Merlin’s eyes wandered around once more, until her eyes rested right back on the shelf; she grinned evilly and started hurling various potions at the prat’s turned back. She began tinting the contents of the bottles purple as her magic hurled them at the blond knight. Her vision had tinted itself entirely gold at this point as she continued to assault the prat with purple potions. The prat growled a little, covering his face with his arms as he ducked away from the potions.

Despite how much fun Merlin was having, she suddenly stopped her assault of purple potions on the prat when she noticed that Will was coming into the room. The gold tint in her vision faded as she stood up straight. Grinning to herself as she listened to Will berate Arthur on not messing around with the potions.

Composing herself in the regal manner of a proper princess, Merlin stood up straight, wiping the smirk off her face before opening the door wide to the physician’s chambers.

“Gaius?” She called out, acting as if she had no idea that he wasn’t there at the moment.

The two boys who had previously been bickering over how to catch rats, turned immediately to stare at Merlin. Arthur blanched and tensed a little before standing up straighter and nodding respectfully in greeting to Merlin. 

“Hello your Majesty.”

 Merlin ignored Arthur’s sudden respectful behavior as she watched Will eye her suspiciously, his eyes flicking between the purple knight and his best friend. He connected the dots instantly, taking on an irate tone when he responded to her call for Gaius.

“Gaius is in a meeting with the council at the moment.” He replied curtly, his tone full of malice, as he muttered about how he would have to clean the purple stains from Gaius’s sheets later. However Merlin ignored that as she continued.

“I needed to have a word with him about something, but I suppose I can wait for him to return.” She stated, moving over to one of the benches that were seated in Gaius’s chambers, before sitting down delicately. She sat up straight, tucked her legs underneath the bench, and folded her hand in front of her on her lap. Normally she wouldn’t do that sort of thing in Will’s presence, but at the moment, a highly ranked noble was in the room. Merlin may hate politics, but as a princess she was obligated to learn them and act appropriately. She had to let on an air of regality around Arthur for an appropriate amount of time. She needed his respect before anything else.

Will rolled his eyes at Merlin, before setting a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, and sitting him down on the same bench where Merlin was seated, a smudge of purple stuck on his hand and he grimaced before rubbing it off onto his tunic. “Take your tunic off Arthur.” He ordered before looking back to Merlin. “If it’s anything to do with…” Will looked down at Arthur, before he continued, trying to be as vague as possible without confusing her. “That time of the month… Gaius just made a new batch of potions.”

Merlin blinked once, before blushing and glaring furiously at Will. She held back the temptation to scream at him for mentioning something so personal in front of Arthur, before glancing at the knight in question. Arthur was taking a strong interest in cleaning the purple from his skin as he pretended to not be there. She could see that he didn’t seem to know what Will had meant, which relieved Merlin immensely.

Her face still cherry red, Merlin cleared her throat. “No Will, that time has already come and gone.” She stated, trying not to let her voice waver any. “I needed to talk to him about something to do with the birds.” Merlin gave Will a knowing look; she had used their code word for magic, something they had come up with one random day at the creek to help them communicate the need to talk about Merlin’s magic without making anyone suspicious. She could see the look of realization dawn on Will’s face, as he proceeded to take the lid off of a jar of salve. 

As soon as the lid was off of the jar, the three people in the room proceeded to choke on the air they were breathing. The air smelt like burnt hair, dunked in a swamp, and sprinkled with a hint of body odor. Merlin tried to cover her nose and mouth, Arthur gagged a little and tried to fan the smell away, Will just grimaced and scooped a little onto his hand.

“I see.” He gagged out in interest, proceeding to slather the foul smelling salve onto Arthur’s back. “Well he’ll be back shortly.” He stated, holding his breath as he rubbed the foul smelling salve onto Arthur’s back.

The person in question, whose back was becoming a lighter shade of purple, decided that he wanted to speak. “I hate to interrupt your little chat, but what is THAT?” He shouted, glaring over his shoulder at Will as he applied the burning-swamp-hair-body-odor-salve onto his back. Arthur’s voice was edgy, and more than a little angry. Merlin didn’t even bother to reprimand him for being rude to anyone in her presence. She could understand his feelings.  

“It’s a salve for your sunburn Arthur, don’t get testy.” Will responded, purposefully slapping Arthur’s back to make him flinch. Will was taking pleasure in allowing the purple to mix with the salve and spread over the knights back. It was quite obvious that he was enjoying torturing the poor sod. Merlin felt a swell of pride. 

“I understand that, but why does it smell so foul? Surely you have something else?” The blond knight questioned, irritation dripping from his voice.

Merlin caught the smirk that Will sent her, before he evened his face and responded calmly to Arthur. “No, your burn was bad enough that this is the only salve that will work.” Will sent Merlin a secretive smile at this, she responded by patting his shoulder outside of Arthur’s view.

“It wouldn’t have gotten so bad if someone had allowed my shirt to stay on.” The knight grumbled, sending a pointed look in Merlin’s direction.

Merlin’s acted as if she were offended. “Don’t look at me, I told Will here that he could do whatever he wanted to you in the stocks.” She couldn’t help but feel a little smug at this announcement.

She watched as Arthur’s eyes widened at her before he snapped his head back at Will. “YOU!?” He exclaimed, trying to pull away from Will’s hands as the physicians apprentice continued to apply salve to his back. “You’re the one who left me in the stocks… With no shirt?!”

As soon as Arthur tried to pull away from Will while he was still applying the salve, the physician-to-be growled and gripped the back to Arthur’s neck to sit him back down. “Don’t get up while I’m treating you.” He muttered, before actually answering Arthur’s question. “Yes Arthur, I decided to leave you in the stocks with no shirt.” He replied, suppressing the smugness in his voice very well.

Merlin held back giggles as she watched the exchange, probably what struck her as most amusing was that there was a trail of purple running down Arthur’s cheek from his hair as he tried to look menacing. Or maybe it was the fact that Will was holding the back of Arthur’s head as if he were lifting a kitten by the scruff of its neck. Merlin had gotten the image of a purple kitten curling up in a ball with its tail between it legs, ears laid back flat and glowering at Merlin. Merlin felt fairly impressed with herself for being able to keep herself from snorting out her laughter.

“Do you know how long it’s going to take me to stop smelling like pig slop?!” Arthur cried out, clearly forgetting that he was speaking to someone who was at a lower station than him, and as a result, came out rather childish and snobbish.

Will, clearly a little put out by Arthur’s assumption that he had no idea what it was like to be in the stocks, replied almost immediately. “It’ll take about 3 day if you take a bath every day.” It was at that point in time when Will finished applying the salve onto Arthur’s back. He took a step back to examine his work, and was pleased to say that Arthur looked absolutely ridiculous. Satisfied, he put the lid back on the salve, and proceeded to put it away.

Arthur on the other hand was completely furious. “I look like a jester!” He shouted, turning sharply on his heel to grab Will by the collar of his shirt. He seemed to have forgotten that a princess was present in the room, as he began shaking Will furiously, demanding that he remove the purple from his skin.

Merlin stared at the blond knight for the longest time, her eyes widening at the sight. His back and arms were a light purple, with a few spots of darker purple that reminded Merlin of polka dots. His hands were a dark purple, and he had a handprints on his neck and face from where he had pulled at his face in frustration. He’d apparently put his hands through his hair at one point to, since it was bunched up in dark purple knots in some places, while it spiked up in light purple in others.

The dam broke, and Merlin burst out laughing, leaning forward to grip her sides. At first she let out girlish giggles, until they evolved into uncontrollable laughter. She stopped trying to suppress her laughter, knowing quite well that if she did, it would come out in unladylike snorts. So she simply held her sides delicately with one hand lightly pressed to her mouth. She attempted not to look at Arthur and Will as they wrestled each other to the ground, each of them equally pissed about something Merlin no longer knew about.  She had lost track of the conversation as soon as she started giggling.

Magic was such a wonderful thing.

…

**~Uther’s POV~**

Uther couldn’t help but wonder if sending two of his best knights to the chopping block would be too harsh? Sure they had lost track of Merlin, when a deranged witch was aiming to kill her, but then again Uther knew firsthand what it was like to have to keep an eye on Merlin. She had a strange affinity for slipping away from those who were meant to watch her. It was like trying to capture the wind, you could never keep up with her, and once you actually did catch up to her, she would slip through your fingers like water.

Uther supposed he shouldn’t be too hard on his best knights; Merlin was an expert at slipping away from her shadows. He should rather be impressed by the fact that they had thwarted 16 of her escape attempts. As far as he was concerned, that was a new record. But still, he was worried about what could happen to his daughter without his knights there to protect her. That sorceress could be lurking around any corner.

“We’re so sorry your Majesty. She slipped away from us as soon as we looked away.” Sir Owaine stated, looking truly flustered and confused about how Merlin had managed to slip away from them. He had been keeping a close eye on her and told Uther that he had been listening for the clicking of her heels to make sure she was following him.

Sir Leon on the other hand, simply looked agitated, as if he wanted to strangle Merlin when he finally found her. Uther swore Leon knew how Merlin did it. Although that was a ridiculous notion, if he knew how Merlin did it, he would have been able to stop her from doing it in the first place.

Uther shook off that last thought as he strode down the hall, the two knights trailing loyally behind him. They explained their mistake to Uther, and asked what it was he wanted them to do. Uther gave his orders without showing any trace of being as flustered and worried as he really was.

“Find her!” This was all that Uther responded with, as he headed towards the physicians chambers, needing to have a conversation with Gaius about his old battle wound. It was acting up now that he was worrying about the threat against Merlin’s life. He wasn’t able to grip anything properly at the moment, not even his quill pen. He found that he was especially useless if he couldn’t write (let alone swing a sword), but if that weren’t the case he would be out searching the castle for Merlin. So instead of sitting around being crippled, Uther decided he needed to get something from Gaius to ease the pain and allow him to continue with his duties.

Uther flung the door to the physician’s chambers wide open. “Gaius, I need you t-“ Uther stopped midsentence when he looked up to see what was going on.

His daughter, Merlin, was sitting on a bench, hunched over slightly, trying hard to stop herself from laughing. At her feet two boys were wrestling each other to the ground hurling insults as they did so. What was more; both of the boys were covered in a purple substance.

_“Purple?”_ Uther thought, his face a beacon of utter confusion. _“Why are they purple?”_

Uther stared like this for a good 3 minutes, watching the boys try to tear each other apart. He caught bits and pieces of the insult they were throwing at each other. Things like; “Oh you think this is funny huh! I’ll show you funny when I’m done with your face!“ or “Why’re you so proud of your daggers, are you compensating for something?” Oddly enough, it was both hysterically funny, and rather annoying. Uther would look back and wish that he would have laughed at least a little, but instead he decided to act like a King.

Uther found that the aching from his battle wound had disappeared as he approached the two purple forms making a mess on the ground. He reached out and grabbed the boys by their arms, pulling them apart with little difficulty, not taking any notice to the purple goop that was beginning to stain his cloths. He was too preoccupied with trying to figure out why Merlin was sitting there watching two buffoons wrestle on the ground when she should be trying to find a way to protect herself from the witch. Or at the very least looking for the third knight who was supposed to guard her. Uther thought that maybe Merlin had no sense of the fact that she was in danger. That or she just didn’t seem to care.

“What is the meaning of this Merlin?! I hear from the knights that you’ve disappeared again, and I come in here to find this?!” Uther’s voice boomed loudly, his voice tinged with frustration and anger as he held the two boys on either side of him in example. He glowered down at his daughter like this, and watched as she stopped laughing and stood to acknowledge that her King was in the room.

There was an awkward silence in the room as the good humor from a few moments ago dissolved into tension. Uther’s chest puffed out as he inhaled, attempting to look menacing. Uther failed however when a particular smell reached his nostrils, effectively thwarting his efforts to look intimidating, by causing the King to stagger back a bit before holding his breath to choking out another comment.

“By the gods what is that smell!?”

It took Uther a little while to figure out that the smell was coming from the purple substance clinging to the two boys. At this realization he dropped both of their arms and proceeded to remove the gloves he had so conveniently been wearing.

Uther got a good look at the face of one of the purple buffoons and instantly recognized him as the newest (most promising?) young knight who had joined the knights of Camelot. He was also the third knight who was supposed to be shadowing Merlin. He remembered the boy’s name as Arthur. 

To see him messing around like this was a little disappointing to Uther, and he briefly reconsidered weather or not he wanted him to be one of the knights guarding his daughter.

 “It’s salve sire. A salve for easing burns.” Uther’s head turned sharply at this sudden answer, it had come from the boy who had been wrestling with Arthur. On closer inspection Uther believed it to be the servant boy who Merlin insisted on spending far too much time with. At the sight of… (What’s his name again? Will…?) the servant boy many ideas flew into Uther’s mind as to what kind of trouble he had gotten himself into. He wondered why a knight of Camelot would try to tear him apart. Yet the salve somehow didn’t fit in any of the scenario’s that came to Uther’s mind.

“Salve?” Uther repeated, rolling the word around on his tongue, trying to figure out exactly why the boys could possibly need it. Even knowing that it was for burns didn’t really help him much.

It was at that moment that Merlin seemed to decide it was necessary to interject. “It was for Arthur’s back Sire,” She stated, standing up straight, and meeting his gaze in a way of which only she would be able to do and get away with. “There was a...” Merlin paused in thought, her lips forming a line before she continued. “Mistake…” 

Uther watched as she glanced over at Arthur and watched as the two seemed to come to a silent agreement. “And I ended up sending our knight here to the stocks.” She glanced over at Will before looking right back up at Uther. “I went to go get him, when I learned that he was meant to be my third shadow.”

Uther donned a look of moderate surprise as he stared down at his daughter. He didn’t quite believe his daughter, but with so many people in the room he couldn’t very well call her out on it. So he looked past it, deigning to come back to the subject at a later time. When there weren’t so many ears to listen in on a possible argument between father and daughter.

 “And the salve is because he got quite badly sunburned.” He watched her shifted awkwardly at this. “That was the only salve that would ease it significantly enough for him to return to his duties.”

Uther raised an eyebrow at his daughter, she wasn’t telling him something, but then again, she didn’t tell him a lot of things. 

“Maybe I just don’t want to know…” At that thought Uther decided that he had stumbled across a piece of golden logic. There was no doubt in his mind that he really didn’t want to know.

Trying his very best to push past the offending smell, he nodded to his daughter before looking back at the two boys. He shot Will a malicious glare, while sending a disappointed glance at Arthur.

“What I just saw, I’m assuming that you two were fighting for a perfectly valid reason.” Uther thought about his words for a moment before settling his gaze onto Arthur. “However, I am disappointed in you, Arthur for allowing it to turn into such a horrendously disgraceful display. A knight of Camelot should never allow himself to be roped into something like this.” His eyes narrowed at Will. “I don’t expect much from you anymore Will, you’ve already proven to be an idiot.” He sighed, before turning sharply on his heel so he could speak with his daughter again. “But you, you’re the crowned princess of Camelot. You should be above all of this! I would have assumed that you would have never allowed this,” Uther waved his arms towards the two boys in exasperation. “To happen!”

Uther dissolved into thought after that, as he stared at his daughters face. Her lips with pursed into a straight line, her body language was stiff, and controlled. But she still held her head high in the way of which had been taught to her since birth. Her expression was unreadable to Uther, as it had always been, but he could tell that she was thinking deeply.

Uther knew that he needed to rein her in; she had been running around for far too long. Doing as she pleased, and causing mischief wherever she went. She needed something-someone to keep her grounded and out of trouble. 

Uther glanced around the room, at the knights who were present. He knew for a fact that he had no one better at the moment but these knights to at least attempt to keep Merlin under control. However, he couldn’t very well leave all of them to watch her at every moment of the day. They were knights, and what was more, they were what Uther was considering to be the leaders of his knights.

It was a vexing problem.

Sighing to himself, Uther turned his attention back to his daughter. “You’ve proven to me that you can’t be trusted to be responsible when there is a threat to your life. And as a result you have forced my hand.” His voice oozed disappointment as he continued. “You shall not leave your quarters unless called upon by me.” 

Uther looked at the knights. “And until this threat has been dealt with I want all of you,” He settled his gaze on Arthur, as if he was worried about him doing something stupid. “To keep your eyes on my daughter no matter what.” Uther believed that maybe that wasn’t enough of an incentive to have them doing their best work, so he added something. “Unless you wish to spent a week or two in the dungeons for failing me.”

Uther felt that he had effectively made his point, when the knights stiffened at the thought of being put in the dungeons for a week. Feeling smug, he looked back to his daughter. Looking at her face, he wasn’t surprised to see that her expression had changed to one of pure annoyance. There was no doubt in his mind that his orders where interfering with something she felt needed to be done. Taking one last glance at his knights, Uther breathed in and headed towards the door. 

Then as if struck by lightning, Uther turned back towards the group before opening the door to leave.

“And for gods sakes wash off that horrid smell!”

**…**

**~Arthur’s POV~**

_“Why doesn’t anyone tell me what’s going on?”_ Was the thought that popped into Arthur’s head when his Royal Highness King Uther Pendragon suddenly stormed into the physician’s chambers, and announced many revolutionary things that both confused and alarmed Arthur. It all happened so fast that Arthur felt the need to make a list of priorities of which he needed to dwell on first. The list went in this order; 

One, there was a threat to Merlin’s life

Two, he was apparently supposed to be guarding Merlin from this threat

Three, the princess had just lied about why Arthur was in the stocks

Four, he needed to clean the purple stuff off his skin

Five, even the King thought Will was an idiot. 

The last thing really wasn’t much of a revelation for Arthur as more of welcomed confirmation. While the first two were something that caused Arthur to straighten his spine and snap to attention. He listened to the king ramble on about appropriate behavior while he simply stared in disbelief at the raven haired princess who was standing in front of him. She looked so calm, so unruffled, and a tiny bit annoyed. She didn’t look at all as if she were concerned with the fact that her life had just been threatened?

_“Doesn’t she have any sense of self-preservation?”_ He started to wonder, just as the King left the physicians chamber, and two knights walked in, covering their noses while staring at Arthur expectantly.

“You want to hurry up there Arthur? We need to escort the princess to her chambers.” The one with the curly hair said.

Arthur stared for a little while, still attempting to process all that had suddenly been bombarded with. He stared at the princess, examining the expression on her face before everything just clicked.

“Oh, um… Yeah, just… Give me a minute…” Arthur looked around before his eyes settled on Will, who had already begun taking off his tunic and filling a jug of water. Arthur stalked over to the servant before grabbing the jug from him and dragging him into another room by the back of his pants. Will protested, and tried to swing at Arthur, but from the position he was in, his gangly arms couldn’t reach the blonde knight.

Once the two were away from the princess and her escorts Arthur turned sharply on his heel. “Help me out.” He demanded before grabbing a nearby rag and wetting it with the water, before proceeding to wipe the salve from his skin with said rag.

Much to Arthur’s annoyance Will just stared at Arthur as if he were some sort of imbecile. “You can’t do that…” He stated with an accusing look on his face.

Arthur glared at Will for a while. “And why pray tell do you believe that?” He asked his tone filled with condescension as he stared at Will. 

Will cocked an eyebrow at Arthur with disgusted disbelief, before rolling his eyes and putting a palm to his forehead. “You need to leave the salve on for at least an hour before taking it off for it to have any effect.” He stated, in a clinical voice that made Arthur remember that he was the ward of the physician. Of course he knew what he was talking about. 

However, Arthur couldn’t very well guard the princess like this. No matter how much he was tempted to simply go out looking and smelling like he did just to spite her.

_“She did send me to the stocks.”_ Arthur thought wistfully, before shaking those thought from his head and throwing the damp cloth at Will’s face. It hit his face with a wet smack.

“It doesn’t matter; I can deal with a little sunburn. I need to make sure the princess stays safe above all else.” He stated his tone completely flat, and determined.

No one could ever say that Arthur wasn’t noble, or un-loyal.

He would lay down his life in a heartbeat to ensure the safety of both Camelot and it princess.

_“Even though she ‘is’ a pain in my arse.”_

Will grabbed the rag before it fell off of his face and to the floor, cocking his eyebrows at Arthur before hesitantly moving to wipe the salve away. Arthur was bracing himself for the unpleasant feel of cloth against his burnt skin. However, he was surprised that it never came. In fact, Arthur took notice to the fact that he felt as if all the burns had simply disappeared.

_“Well it looks like the idiots good for something after all?”_ Arthur thought taking care to test and make sure that there wasn’t any burnt skin left. He felt a little amazed by the fact that the salve had worked so quickly.

Will also noticed the suspicious lack of burns, but instead of being grateful like Arthur, he was simply suspicious. The servant began to viciously scrub at Arthur’s back, trying to find the sunburn that had been there only 10 minutes ago.

“That’s impossible!” Will exclaimed, once the two of them had already scrubbed off any salve on Arthur’s skin, including the salve that had gotten into his hair. He tossed the rag onto the floor with the rest of the discarded cloths, taking no heed of the messy circle of purple rags on the floor.

Arthur rolled his eyes at Will, but didn’t wait for the physician-to-be to launch into some sort of rant about the way the salve was supposed to work. He didn’t want to keep the princess waiting, she was royalty after all. He didn’t want to give the princess further reason for her to hate him. Maybe he could get in her good graces if he charmed her?

Arthur turned to face Will glancing at the boy’s confused face before shaking it off. “Well apparently it is, since there isn’t any sunburn on my back now.” He stated, patting Will’s shoulder. “Good job.” He stated before pulling on his tunic and dashing out to meet Merlin and her shadows. 

Will followed behind shouting at him about some thing or another. Arthur just ignored him and nodded to his fellow knights.

“Alright, let’s go.” He stated, his eyes moving over the princess and her guards, assessing what was going on like the trained knight that he was, while the knights on either side of Merlin did the same to him in turn.

Arthur moved behind the princess and proceeded to follow to two knights as they began to lead Merlin to her chambers. He ran things over in his head a number of times, and ignored Will’s continued shouts from down the hall insisting that he come back.

The four of them walked down the halls, an awkward silence spreading amongst them. None of them really wanted to say the first word, to break the silence. It was like some sort of spell. A spell that they all knew of yet did nothing to stop. 

Arthur glanced at Merlin, before grazing his eyes over the other two knights. He noticed how Leon and Owaine kept on glancing back at Merlin, and keeping a close eye on her. He couldn’t help but puzzle over why the knights looked so weary of the princess. Was she really that sneaky?

Arthur kept his eyes glued to the princess, tilting his head to the side, watching her with steady critical eyes. He waited to see what kind of tricks she would employ to try and give them the slip. If she was indeed as troublesome as the other two knights believed her to be, then there was no doubt in his mind that she would try to give them the slip soon. Arthur being as diligent as he is started watching Merlin carefully.

 It wasn’t long until Arthur noticed that the princess was slowly falling behind Leon and Owaine. She was being extremely subtle, slowing down in increments as they made their way through the halls. Arthur smiled at this, knowing exactly what she was going to try. However he didn’t move to stop it, he wanted to give her a chance to escape. He wanted to make sure he knew all of her tricks for future references. He would allow her to escape just so that he could follow her, and find all of her hiding spots.

It was at this thought that Arthur noted Merlin doing something strange, she brought her hands up to her face, to cover it from their view. It was an obvious and suspicious motion. Yet it also didn’t seem to have any meaning, but that didn’t keep Arthur from being suspicious. He heard her whisper something to herself, before she looked back at him for a moment, her eyes sweeping over him quickly before settling on his face. Tentatively she raised her hand pushing the hair from her face her eyes not leaving his for a second.

Frowning, Arthur watched her do this. Her hand stopped and dropped to her side, much to his puzzlement. His eyes lifted to her face, and he observed as her face twisted into a frown. Arthur stared blankly at her for a moment, as they stared at each other, each of them trying to decipher the meaning of their silence.

Her expression smoothed over quickly, and Arthur swore he could see a hint of amazement as she stared at him, as if Arthur had just performed an amazing trick. The expression confused Arthur even more. However he continued to watch the princess, watching as the wheels and cogs turned in her head. Watching as her eyebrows came closer together, her eyes narrowed, and her face darkened in thought.

He knew that it was inappropriate, but Arthur couldn’t help but stare deeply into the Princess’s eyes, trying to visibly see what it was that she was thinking. Time seemed to leave the both of them as they stared at each other; they forgot what it was they were doing, and their bodies began to run on autopilot while world melted around them.

  Their staring match was interrupted when they arrived at the door to the princess’ chambers. They were snapped out of their daze as Leon turned to the princess and cleared his throat. Arthur noted from the corner of his eye that he was nodding to her and opening her chamber doors. His eyes never left hers, and he watched in fascination as she tore her gaze from his with obvious difficulty, that expression of amazement once more gracing her features. She looked away from Arthur again to nod at Leon in thanks, before closing the door to her chambers, and disappearing inside.

Arthur stared at the door, one thought continuously nagging at him.

_“She didn’t try to escape…”_

**...**

**~Merlin’s POV~**

_“How? How did he do it?”_

This was the thought that persisted in Merlin’s mind as she closed to door to her chambers, trying her hardest not to look back at the continued annoyance of her day. The blonde haired blue eyed Knight Sir Arthur Bruta of Cornwall.

_“That spell has never failed me! Never!”_

It was a puzzle that was nagging furiously at Merlin. Why hadn’t her camouflage spell worked on Arthur? It worked on Sir Leon and Sir Owaine, but not Arthur. A pompous, arrogant, testosterone filled meat head of a knight, who overcompensated for his flaws by swinging around a sword. 

It didn’t add up in her mind, the spell that had disguised her nobility had worked on Arthur (Until of course he knocked off her hat). But this spell hadn’t even affected him slightly. Merlin was worrying herself raged with this knowledge, pacing at the foot of her bed worrying the inside of her cheek. What had she missed? Did she not recite the spell correctly? Did she overestimate the number of people it would affect? Did she have to be facing the direction of the person in question when casting the spell? It was tearing at Merlin, driving her mad.

It wasn’t long before Merlin stopped pacing and let out an indignant huff before moving to the side of her bed and flinging herself onto it. She grabbed a decorative pillow and hugged it to her chest, curling up into a ball on top of the covers. She glared at a piece of lint that stuck to the surface as if it had done her some sort of personal injustice. 

Merlin closed her eyes and ran over what had happened once more.

_“Merlin had hidden her face, in an obvious and suspicious manner. It wasn’t meant to be a sneaky motion, it was meant to hide her flashing gold eyes. It really didn’t matter how suspicious or obvious it was. She did it often enough for people to associate the action with Merlin. It had long ago become something that no one looked twice at. It just became normal for Merlin._

_Except when she hide her eyes in front of those who knew intimately of Merlin’s magic, they always sent her harsh glares whenever she hid her face in a crowd or in front of the King. She couldn’t count how many times she had been berated or called an idiot for using her magic so blatantly in public. They shouted at her and asked her if she wanted to die at the pyre for her stupidity. Merlin never listened however, and never seemed to care; maybe it had something to do with her inherent lack for self-preservation._

_Merlin had whispered the spell after shielding her eyes, watching as the world took on a golden hue for a half a second before turning back to normal. She noticed the effect on Owaine and Leon immediately. They grew less tense and their steps became relaxed. She didn’t even need to check to make sure that they were under the spell; it was obvious that they were._

_Merlin glanced over her shoulder at her newest shadow. She looked him over, trying to discern if he had relaxed at all. She couldn’t tell, she didn’t know him well enough to tell if he had relaxed or not. So just to be sure, she locked her eyes onto his, raising her hand, watching to see if his eyes followed it. Merlin felt her heart sink a little when his eyes flicked to her hand, and continued to follow it when she pushed the hair from her face._

_The spell hadn’t worked on him…”_

Merlin hugged the pillow closer to her chest in her frustration. She hated not knowing how he did it. She hated the fact that whatever hold the spell had on Leon and Owaine crumbled with but a word from Arthur. She hated the idea that maybe he was completely out of her control. She hated how much that idea excited her. She hated the fact that she was eager to try and cast a spell on him again. She loathed, and cherished the implications of Arthur being immune to her magic.

Merlin couldn’t just hold still, she had too much on her mind. Throwing the pillow to the side, she stood from her bed and looked around her room. She glanced at the wardrobe, before shaking her head; she didn’t feel like picking out her outfit for the feast. It wouldn’t be happening until tomorrow, after Lady Helen’s party arrived. 

Merlin’s eyes travelled to the window. No she couldn’t sneak out through the window; she’d already tried that before. It had ended with Merlin confined to bed for a month with a broken leg. 

The door caught Merlin’s attention; No she wouldn’t ask for food or try to sneak out again, she had far too much to mull over in her mind. It was better to do that in her own chambers, where no one could distract her.

Eventually Merlin decided that it would be better to drown herself in her lesson books. It would help her figure out this puzzle, if she distracted herself with politics for a little while.

The flustered princess moved towards the desk that had been set up in her chambers. She moved around it to the chair set up behind the desk, resting a hand on the back and pulling it out. She stood in front of the heavy wooden chair and delicately placed herself onto it, smoothing out her skirts as she settled herself in the seat. She slid the chair closer to the desk, before reaching out to pull a particularly large tomb in front of herself and opening it. After doing so, it wasn’t long before she was focused on reading about how a past ruler had made it illegal for seamstresses to sew hidden pockets in the skirts of the dresses of anyone other than the royal family.

In all fairness when Merlin endeavored to drown herself in her reading, she really hadn’t meant it literally. So when she suddenly felt her mind, and her body being flooded, you could imagine what kind of thoughts came to mind. Her mind became very muddled, important thoughts watered down by the theoretical flood of information that suddenly came upon Merlin. 

It was all rather confusing after that as thoughts crowded her mind and everything coherent disappeared into a blurred fog.

_“DROWNING!_

_WATER! The flood is worse, our crops won’t survive! AIR! DROWNING! COLD! Need to swim to the top, my ankle? AIR! SWIM! Why is the hand so cold? SWIM! DROWNING! WARMTH! FIRE! MAGIC! When did I get so cold? AIR! BREATHE! DROWNING! SWIM! It won’t let go? SWIM! DROWNING! SWIM! No let go, I need to swim to the top! KICK! DROWNING! AIR! There are more? BREATHE! DROWNING! KICK! How many hands do you have? BREATHE! DROWNING! AIR! It’s so hazy… KICK! DROWNING! SPELLS! It’s so cold… ESCAPE! DROWNING! FLOODING! It’s so damp… BREATHE! DROWNING!_

_REMEMBER!_

_COLD! Why am I dry? KICK! REMEMBER! DROWNING! MAGIC! BREATHE! Do they bruise? USE MAGIC! REMEMBER! DROWNING! MAGIC! USE MAGIC! I kick them, but they don’t bruise? REMEMBER! DROWNING! MAGIC! REMEMBER! It’s so crowded... BREATHE! REMEMBER! DROWNING! MAGIC! SWIM! I’m drowning… BREATHE! MAGIC! REMEMBER!_

_SUNLIGHT?_

_BREATHE! When did I close my eyes? BREATHE! LIGHT! DROWNNG! I opened my eyes? BREATHE! LIGHT! LOOK! White hair? AIR! DROWNING! MAGIC! HELP! Wrinkles? AIR! DROWNING! MAGIC! HELP! Her hands are bony? HELP! DROWNING! MAGIC! HELP! I can’t breathe? HELP! DROWNING! MAGIC! HELP! Her lips are moving? HELP! DROWNING! MAGIC! HELP! She has a doll in her hands? HELP! DROWNING! MAGIC! USE A SPELL! Why is the doll on a string? HELP! DROWNING! MAGIC! HELP! She’s saying something? HELP! MAGIC! DROWNING! BREATHE! Her words are echoing? MAGIC! MAGIC! DROWNING! AIR! Her eyes are gold? BREATHE!_

_WITCH!_

_DROWNING! BREATH! Don’t my eyes turn gold? BREATHE! USE A SPELL! BREATHE! WITCH! She’s a witch? BREATHE DROWNING! BREATHE! SET HER ON FIRE! I’m not in water... AIR! DROWNING! WITCH! BREATH! So why am I breathing water? AIR! DROWNING! WITCH! AIR! She’s gonna kill me… BREATHE! DROWNING! WITCH! SET HER ON FIRE! Coughing hurts... BREATHE! DROWNING! WITCH!_

_FIND IT!_

_WITCH! It got dark! WITCH! FIND IT! SET HER ON FIRE! So many spells… DROWNING! WITCH! SET HER ON FIRE! WITCH! The hands are back... FIND IT! WITCH! THE SPELL! DROWNING! KICK! I’m looking up... SWIM! DROWNING! WITCH! SWIM! When did I start looking up? BREATHE! WITCH! FIND IT! HELP! When did I close my eyes? BREATHE! WITCH! HELP! THE SPELL! The hands are pulling harder…KICK! KICK! KICK! Where did that spell float to? FIGHT! WITCH! HELP! FIGHT! It’s here somewhere… FIND IT! KICK! WITCH! HELP! BREATHE! I can set her hair on fire… SET HER ON FIRE! AIR! MAGIC! DROWNING! FIGHT! I can make the water go away… WITCH! HELP! FIGHT! The spell floated away…_

_NO!_

_NO!_

_NO!_

_WITCH! HELP! NO! The spell is getting away! NO! WITCH! HELP! NO! FIGHT! The hands won’t let me follow it... SWIM! NO! FIGHT! LOOK! There’s someone standing in the light? HELP! WITCH! HELP! YES! They dove in... HELP! YES! HELP! HELP! YES! Get the spell for me? HELP! YES! YES! YES! THE SPELL! HELP! Yes! HELP! YES! THE SPELL! THE SPELL! That’s right! YES! THAT’S RIGHT! THE SPELL! YES! THE SPELL! THE SPELL! You brought me the spell! YES! THE SPELL! THE SPELL! THAT’S RIGHT! THE SPELL! Thank you for bringing me the spell! THAT’S RIGHT! THE SPELL!_

_YES!_

_YES!_

_YES!_

_THE SPELL! YES! THE SPELL! I’m dry again... THE SPELL! WITCH! THE SPELL! THE SPELL! It’s the sound of captivity again... THE SPELL! THE SPELL! THAT’S RIGTH! THE SPELL! I hate that sound… THE SPELL! THE SPELL! THE SPELL! My voice is watering… THE SPELL! THE SPELL! YES! THE SPELL! I need to open my eyes… THE SPELL! THE SPELL! USE THE SPELL! There’s the witch… THE SPELL! THE SPELL! USE THE SPELL! The world went gold… MAGIC! THE SPELL!_

_PAIN!_

_PAIN! The magic tickles… PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! Stop tickling me magic... PAIN! PAIN! It hurts when you tickle me… PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! It sounds like a sword… PAIN! Did the spell work? PAIN! I still can’t breathe? PAIN! PAIN! HELP! Why can’t I breathe yet?! PAIN! HELP! Was that the right spell? HELP! PAIN! HELP! Who’s that screaming? HELP! PAIN! They’re gurgling and screaming... PAIN! They must be drowning too... HELP! The sword sounds stopped… HELP! PAIN!_

_HANDS!_

_HANDS! Oh! HANDS! Those hands are warm... HANDS! HANDS! HANDS! Why are there warm hands? HANDS! All the other hands are cold... HANDS! HANDS! But these hands are warm... HANDS! HANDS! Where did the cold hands go? HANDS! HANDS! Why does that matter? HANDS! These hands are warm… Hands! Hands! I like these hands better... Hands! The water is draining… Hands… Is it because of the warm hands?_

_Warm…_

_Gold… His head is gold..._

_Warm…_

_He glints in the sunlight…_

_So bright…_

_He’s coming over here…_

_Warm…_

_Those are Gold’s hands?_

_Warm…_

_Gold made the magic stop…_

_Warm…_

_That’s amazing Gold…_

_So warm…_

_I can breathe again Gold…_

_AIR!_

_What did you do Gold?_

_Relief! Air!_

_I’m grateful Gold…_

_Relief! Air!_

_Gold? How did you do it?_

_Relief… Air!_

_Amazing…_

_How Gold?_

_Relief… Air…_

_Amazing…_

_Gold, Stop shouting…_

_Amazing…_

_Tell me how you did it Gold…_

_Amazing…_

_Fine… Just make the magic behave again Gold…_

_Amazing…_

_Just make the water go away Gold…_

_Amazing…_

_Gold don’t take your hands away…_

_No…_

_If you take your warm hands away the cold ones will come back Gold…_

_No… Gold…_

_Don’t leave Gold…_

_No! Gold!_

_I don’t want to drown again Gold…_

_GOLD!”_

**…**

**~Mary Collin’s POV~**

The wound was still bleeding, fresh, aching, jagged, and raw. There was no way to stop the bleeding. There was no way to stitch it closed or pull the skin together. It wasn’t that kind of wound. Not the kind that you can simply sew shut and wrap in bandages. It wasn’t a wound you could touch, or a wound you could see. It was however, a wound you could feel. A wound that you could feel deep within your soul, a wound so painful, so agitated, so infected, and bloody that it drove you to do things which went against your very nature. This wound was the gapping absence of a loved one, and for one particular Mary Collins it is the empty space within her heart that was reserved for her one and only child; Thomas Collins.

A mother’s grief is a terrible thing. The screams of a mother who has lost her child tear into your soul and rip you apart inside. Her sobs elicit sympathy from even the most hardened criminals. Her tears bring forth the need to run to your own child, or mother and hold them close. Her mercy breaks your heart. Her bravery motivates you to try harder. Her rage is enough to bring forth an army to inflict the same pain, grief, and suffering upon the person who stole their child.

Mary Collins is a mother well past her prime, who raised her only son with no help from a man. She poured her blood sweat and tears into making sure her child was well fed, clothed, sheltered, and protected. She did not always use honest means with which to accomplish these things. More times than she can count she found herself turning to dark magic to do away with someone who meant harm to both her an her child.

Mary Collins however, was not an avid practitioner of dark magic. She specialized in healing, and protection magic. Before the great purge she had taught good magic to many sorcerers and sorceresses. Then even when the purge started she still taught the pure magic to her son and watched as he grew into an honorable young man, a man who was able to defend his children without ever having to turn to dark magic, a man who refused to use his magic unless it was absolutely necessary, a man who knew better than anyone else how his own gift could corrupt and destroy him. He was a good man, with good morals.

To think that he was executed for preventing 7 infants from dying from small pox was simply too much for the grieving Mary Collins.

It ripped at Mary Collins heart, and tore a truly mournful and terrifying scream from her throat. Twisted her soul to the point of which she wished malice upon all who had wronged her. It beat at her mind, and twisted her morals, keeping her from seeing the error in her thoughts.

Mary Collins swore that Uther Pendragon would understand her pain before he died. She would kill his only daughter, and watch as he mourned the loss of his child. He would beg, he would scream, he would demand that she end his life.

Mary Collins would oblige… 

She wasn’t heartless…

She wouldn’t prolong his suffering for longer than necessary…

They would die knowing each other’s pain…

Uther would understand the kind of suffering he had inflicted on so many, people, on so many mothers…

His heart would leave his mortal body.

And then they would meet each other in the depths of hell, to wallow in their sins together…

Mary Collins only needed a doll…

A doll and a string…

She turned to dark magic, gathering the ingredients that would bring forth a sinister painful and torturous death. Her mind was already demented, Mary Collins didn’t care how quickly Merlin Pendragon died, so long as she died. She would make sure that it was next to impossible to cure the young princess, even if the King did for some reason have a magical trinket lying about.

This spell would rip Merlin Pendragon to shreds; it would drown her in both body and mind, which would kill her within minutes. They would be agonizing minutes too, minutes of the princess writhing, screaming, and clawing at nothing. Maybe Mary Collins should make it go by faster for the princess? She seemed innocent enough…

Shaking her head Mary Collin finished the preparation for her spell, and then tucked her precious cargo away, before setting off towards Camelot. The old enchantress snuck into the palace, using a simple camouflage spell to conceal herself. No one looked twice at her, which was perfectly acceptable to Mary. She didn’t even bother to concern herself with trivial fact about how she should be at least getting confused glances from servant before their eyes glazed over and they looked right past her. She had never used this spell on the residents of the castle before, yet she was getting a reaction as if this spell was constantly used on these people. They all simply looked past her. How curious?

Mary didn’t notice it however; she was too focused on the task at hand. If she would have been paying attention, she would have realized that the way the camouflage was working meant that there was a powerful sorcerer or sorceress around. She would have noticed that when she slipped into the princess’s chambers to lay in wait, that there was a distinct impression of magic all around the princess’s chambers.

She would have recognized the air of a novice (albeit powerful) witch, when the princess entered her chambers, and began pacing. She would have recognized the way her own magic reached out to Merlin’s. She would have recognized the way the magic in the room flared up when their magic touched. If Mary hadn’t been acting like a novice enchantress, she would have sensed everything as soon as Merlin sat down to read.

Only novice witches, enchantresses, and sorceresses wouldn’t be able to recognize the presence of another magical creature. Like Merlin didn’t when Mary started approaching her at the desk. Holding up the doll by the string and chanting the words to her spell.

**_“Wælstréam híe bréosthord! Wælstréam híe bréostsefa! Wælstréam híe bréostloca! Wælstréam híe limgesíð!_ **

**_Áfeorme híe æ! Áfeorme híe bréosthord! Áfeorme híe bréostsefa! Áfeorme híe bréostloca!”_ **

The ancient words of the old religion rose around Mary Collins hissing in the way that they often do. The spell was dark, the spell was powerful, and the spell was working.

**_“Ofergíet híe bréosthord! Ofergíet híe bréostsefa! Ofergíet híe bréostloca! Ofergíet híe limgesíð!_ **

**_Áfeorme híe æ! Áfeorme híe bréosthord! Áfeorme híe bréostsefa! Áfeorme híe bréostloca!”_ **

Mary Collins vision tinted gold, her words echoed unnaturally, and rose in volume and intensity. Her gaze was fixed on the princess, and gradually, the dark magic wrapped around the princess, seeping into her through her mouth, nose, ears, eyes, and pores.

**_“Tóflíet híe bréosthord! Tóflíet híe bréostsefa! Tóflíet híe bréostloca! Tóflíet híe limgesíð_ **

**_Áfeorme híe æ! Áfeorme híe bréosthord! Áfeorme híe bréostsefa! Áfeorme híe bréostloca!”_ **

Mary grinned when the princess’s eyes closed and she let out choked gasps, falling out of her chair, wheezing, kicking, clawing, and flailing for something. She waved her hand over the doll holding it up by the string, as she continued to chant her evil spell.

**_“Bedúfan híe bréosthord! Bedúfan híe bréostsefa! Bedúfan híe bréostloca! Bedúfan híe limgesíð!_ **

**_Áfeorme híe æ! Áfeorme híe bréosthord! Áfeorme híe bréostsefa! Áfeorme híe bréostloca!”_ **

Mary ended the spell, dropping the doll onto the ground as it dissolved into a puddle of water, cackling as the princess suddenly started to cough, before she began to garble on the dark magic flooding her body and mind. She watched the princess kick at nonexistent hands, grab at the water that flooded her thoughts. It was unfortunate for the princess, the spell was complete, and the magic of the old religion would not stop until it had completed its mission.

Mary Collins walked closer to the princess as the dear child arched her back and fell onto the floor. The old enchantress watched as the princess’s opened her eyes. Her pupils were so wide, and when hit by the sunlight, shrunk down to the size of the tip of a needle. Mary watched with bitter amusement, as the princess’s clouded eyes rested on her. Her muddled mind recognizing Mary, before her eyes closed once more.

The sides of Mary’s mouth twitched up into a cruel smile, as she moved to kneel next to the princess. Her joints ached as she reached out to the princess’s face, pushing the hair from her face, as she child began to cough loudly.

“Do not worry child, your suffering will end soon. Once you submit, you will feel no pain ever again.”

It was at that moment when the door to the princess’s chambers, swung open gently, and a curly haired knight stepped inside.

“Princess ar… WITCH!”

Mary turned her harsh glare onto the intruders. Her eyes flashed gold as her hand reached in front of her, and she bellowed out a spell. 

**“** **_Stalu onstyrednes!”_ **

The knight froze in the doorway, before another knight, with a shaved head pulled out his sword and pointed it at Mary. Mary looked at him as well, extending the reach of the spell unto him.

**“** **_Stalu onstyrednes!”_ **

He too froze in place, before yet another knight drew his sword and pointed it at Mary.

Mary snarled at the newest knight, a young man with blond hair, and purple stuck to the side of his face. Mary’s eyes flashed gold once more, as she pointed her bony hands in his direction.

**“** **_Stalu onstyrednes!”_ **

Mary’s magic lashed out at the blond haired knight, wrapping around him, before suddenly cringing away and dissolving. Mary frowned at the blond knight, before repeating the spell. 

**“** **_Stalu onstyrednes!”_ **

Nothing happened, like before, Mary’s magic wrapped around Arthur, before seeming to cringe and dissipate around the knight.

Mary’s frustration piqued, as she threw more spells at Arthur. 

**“** **_Stalu onstyrednes!”_ **

Nothing…

**_“Forwierne limgesíð séo onstyrednes!”_ **

The magic still cringed, then shattered like glass.

**_“Wrásen séo leoþucræft wiðer hiera ést!”_ **

The blond knight flinched a little each time a spell was thrown at him, expecting that magic would hit him and turn him into some sort of hideous creature. Although when nothing happened to him, he stared at Mary mouth hanging wide open, dazed and confused.

_“They’re just bouncing off of him…”_ Mary thought staring back at the blond haired knight. _“But how?”_

Standing from her spot on the floor beside the princess, Mary blocked her from the blonde knight’s view of her. Her lip curled upwards as she snarled at the impossible knight.

“You’re too late; the spell won’t stop until it’s claimed her!” Mary screeched, before rising up her hands once more to send a spell hurtling at the knight.

**_“Bælþracu!”_ **

From Mary Collins hands a flame shot out, hurtling towards the blonde knight’s at a startling speed. The knight’s eyes widened as he ducked the flame, and rolled in front of Mary Collins, swinging his sword towards her stomach.

The old crone’s eyes flashed as the sword came towards her. The sword should have melted and dripped onto the floor, but instead, the sword came in contact with the spell. A bright light flashed, and Mary Collins was hurled backwards as the light expanded to push her away. She hit the wall with a sickening thud, before crying out and crumpling to the floor. 

Mary Collins was at an age where her old bones were not meant to be tossed around like that. Her hip was throbbing, and her shoulders were creaking more than they usually did as a result of her collision with the wall.

Looking up at her enemy with much pain Mary was surprised to note that the blonde haired knight had also been hurled back by the light. He was still trying to recover from the backlash of the magic that had come from their collision. Apparently he wasn’t used to dealing with those kinds of backlashes from magic.

It struck Mary as odd that someone who most magic seemed to bounce off of would be anything but a high level magic user. However, with the way that he was still reeling from that backlash, he couldn’t be a powerful sorcerer; he couldn’t even be a magic user at all! Yet he had still managed to deflect all of Mary’s spells?

The pain in her hip brought Mary’s mind to more important things. The knight would recover soon, and Mary couldn’t possibly stand to take another backlash like the one she had just experienced. She needed to escape.

**_“Fullæst mec æt áflíehe æt friðu!”_ **

The last thing Mary saw of the knight and princess was the knight suddenly rising to his feet and throwing a dagger at her as she made her escape. The knife surprisingly enough hit Mary in the leg, before a warm wind wrapped around her and she found herself in a forest.

Mary cried out in pain as she stared at the knife in her thigh. She didn’t know how, but the knight hit her before the spell could whisk her away.

It struck her bitterly, how some insignificant knight couldn’t have injured her in this way. She would have to pay him back. 

Although.

A grin broke across Mary’s face.

At least Uther would suffer.

**…**

**~Uther’s POV~**

Things just weren’t going Uther’s way. The party that was supposed to be bringing Lady Helen had arrived early, due to the fact that Lady Helen had been injured in an accident, the banquet wasn’t ready, the servants were preoccupied with preparing for the banquet, the knights were busy keeping an eye out for the witch who had threatened Merlin, and the leader of his knights were too busy babysitting his stubborn daughter to be able to direct the knights.

What a most inconvenient time to have a witch trying to kill your daughter.

Couldn’t she have just waited until after the banquet?

It would have been much easier.

_“Well witches are notorious for being scornful.”_ Uther thought to himself.

The kings thoughts took a dark turn at that thought, his mind wandering to the circumstances which had led to his dear Igraine’s death. They wandered to the sorcerer who had sucked the life from her. They wandered to the deathly pale complexion which replaced her one vibrate lively one. They wandered to the rage that had followed his grief, and the smell of fire. They wandered to the sick smile on that witch’s face when she agreed to give Uther an heir.

His thoughts stopped on the moment when his Igraine’s life slipped away.

Uther stared at the floor, his face frozen in an expression of pure anguish. No one was in the throne room with him; no one was there to see him in his moment of weakness.

“Sire?”

A frantic voice snapped Uther out of his stupor. The anguished expression changed and made way for a look of irritation.

Uther glanced up to looked at who had yanked him from his thoughts. He looked over the expression of the knight before frowning.

“What is it?”

The knight in turn paled before he stumbled to speak.

“W-w-wwell the witch sire… She attacked Merlin, we found the princess unconscious on the floor of her chambers. We took her to the physician.”

Alarmed at this news Uther shot up and glared at the knight.

“When did this happen?!” Uther demanded of the knight as he stormed out the doors heading toward the physicians chambers.

The knight moved to keep up pace with Uther, still talking nervously.

“I just learned the news myself sire. It would seem that everyone around the princes was too preoccupied with her health to send a message to you.” He stumbled, trying very hard to appease his king.

Uther stopped for a moment looked back at the knight.

“You didn’t answer my question, WHEN did it happen?” Uther shouted standing menacingly over the knight.

The knight in response shrunk a little and answered hastily.

“It has been more than 4 hours Sire!”

Uther’s rage boiled over at this news, and he broke out into a dead run to get to the physician’s chambers. He wanted to know exactly why and for what reason no one bothered to tell him of his daughter’s ill health. What would prompt such incompetence? Why would no one bother to tell him of his daughter’s ill health?

Was it really that bad?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Flames? Suggestions? All are welcome!


	4. Don't Insult the Commoners Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part III of Don't Insult the Commoners  
> Disclaimer: Merlin belongs to BBC

**~Arthur’s POV~**

The witch had escaped, disappearing in a flurry of smoke and wind, leaving the crumpled unmoving form of the princess lying on the floor behind her, so still that she looked to be dead.

The sight of the princess’ still form sent a surge of panic through the blond haired knight’s mind.

Arthur rushed over to her side at the witch’s dramatic escape, kneeling down to her to look for some sort of fatal injury.

She wasn’t breathing. Her chest wasn’t rising and she had stopped flailing. She wasn’t gasping to bring air into her lungs or garbling like she had been earlier. She was just lying there; eyes glazed over, and darkening. But there was no blood or bruise to be seen, which reassured Arthur just a little.

Arthur tried to shake her awake, the fact Leon and Owaine had unfrozen completely slipping his notice. He just continued to try and shake the princess awake, despite how Leon and Owaine kept on telling him he needed to get Gaius when they saw how unresponsive she was. But he just ignored them as he continued his efforts to shake the princess awake.

After Arthur finally realized that simply shaking her wasn’t working, he slipped his gauntlets off and moved to turn her onto her side.

However, as soon as the bare skin of his hand touched her shoulder, she started gasping, and grabbed his hand before he could do anything else. Chills ran up Arthur’s spine when he realized just how cold her hand was.

Arthur clasped Merlin’s hand with his own, rubbing it to try and warm it up, he saw how much she was shivering and grabbed a blanket from her bed. He wrapped the princess tightly in the blanket rubbing her sides in a feeble attempt to warm her up. She continued to shiver and shudder violently through the soft warm wool of the fabric. The blanket wasn’t enough. She needed to see Gaius.

Leon and Owaine had long since become invisible to Arthur; he was completely focused on Merlin. Their continued shouts for Arthur to go get Gaius was not heard as the blonde haired knight effortlessly lifted Merlin up and ran out of her chambers, heading towards the physician’s door.

He simply focused on her gasps, and held her shivering form close.

He couldn’t let the infuriating girl die.

She didn’t deserve it. No matter how much grief she gave him, or how much trouble she caused anyone around her.

She had people depending on her, an entire kingdom of people.

The revenge of one witch was nothing compared to the number of people it would hurt if Merlin died.

 

The stone corridors were so empty, no servants bustling to prepare for a feast in this part of the castle. It made making his way to the physician’s door easy. He reached the physician’s chambers in a matter of minutes.

Arthur didn’t even bother knocking; he just kicked the door open and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“GAIUS!?”

A startled shout could be heard from above him.

Arthur’s head jerked up in the direction of the shout, eyes locking onto a full head of grey hair and wrinkled frown lines. A relieved sigh escaped Arthur’s mouth when he saw the physician.

“Gaius, the princess, she’s not waking up!”

Something on Arthur’s face must have shown Gaius just how serious the situation was. Because the old physician’s eyes locked onto the shivering form wrapped in the blanket before his expression smoothed over into one of clinical professionalism. He began to make his way down a set of stairs towards the two of them, nodding over to a bed that was set up in the room.

“Lay her down there and tell me what happened.”

Arthur had no problem following these directions, he moved over to the bed and laid Merlin down, just as Leon and Owaine came barging in shouting about how insubordinate Arthur was. The two of them were no longer invisible to Arthur now, however they were still of very little importance to him. He was just about to tell them as such when the gray haired physician shouted at the both of them.

“Be quiet the both of you! I need to hear what happened!”

Arthur turned back to Gaius, glancing only momentarily at the worried frustrated faces of Leon and Owaine as he began telling his story to Gaius. He started with how he found the witch over Merlin, what she had said to him, the fight, the dagger, the big swirl of wind, how Merlin didn’t look to be breathing until he turned her on her side. He rushed through all of it, but he didn’t leave out any details. It wouldn’t do to leave out any information that could help the old physician.

The physician listened intently to Arthur’s story as he looked the princess over. Pressing fingers to her neck, laying the back of his hand to her forehead, pulling back her eyelids to check her pupils, opening her mouth and looking inside, and even looking into her ears.

“Hmmm…” Was all the response Arthur got when the physician finished.

“Hmmm?” Arthur responded, staring at the physician with a look of both frustration and curiosity. He didn’t like the vagueness of the response, it wasn’t telling him anything. “What’s hmmm? Suppose to mean?” He snapped letting it show just how impatient he was.

His impatient attitude was met by a glare from the physician, and a shove in the opposite direction by a certain brown haired servant who seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

“Back off you dollop head and let the man work. He can’t do anything with a meat headed knight like you demanding answers for everything he does!”

It was a bit of a surprise to be told off by the servant again, especially for something as menial as a demand for answers. But then again he was getting a bit too used to the boys rudeness, and disregard for nobility.

“I am her bodyguard and am responsible for her wellbeing!”

Arthur could see the way that Will inflated at that comment, and he would have been greatly satisfied with how well he had riled the boy up if the princess wasn’t on the verge of death.

“Oh yeah, well you’re also-“ Will didn’t get a chance to finish that statement before the grey haired physician whipped around and shoved rags into Will’s face.

“That’s all well and good, but I am her physician, and have been responsible for her health since she was an infant! You can trust that I will not let anything happen to her. Now if the two of you are done bonding, Arthur I need you to grab that bucket over there and hold Merlin’s head over it, and Will, I need some angelica, coltsfoot and southernwood.” The two boys stood silently in front of the Gaius for a little bit, Arthur shocked at the continuous disregard for his position, and Will shocked over Gaius’s uncharacteristic outburst.

The old physician rolled his eyes at the both of them before shoving Will away. “Don’t just sit there with your mouths hanging open, go get the things I asked you for boy!”

Will clamped his mouth shut at that last statement, as he stared at Gaius before turning sharply on his heel and running off to retrieve the things Gaius had asked for.

Gaius then turned his attention on Arthur. “Well what’re you waiting for, that bucket isn’t going to retrieve itself!”

Arthur, whose mouth had been hanging open, clicked his jaw shut before moving across the room to retrieve a wooden bucket. However as soon as he moved away, Merlin began to writhe, in agony, gagging more than she had been before. She turned paler, becoming clammy and cold.

Arthur, with the bucket in hand quickly returned to Merlin’s side, grabbing her shoulder, setting the bucket down. It was at this that the princess regained some of the color that she’d had before, and stopped writhing, beginning to breathe just a little bit easier.

Gaius at seeing this frowned at Arthur and sent him a look that would have been followed by questions if not for the fact that the physician needed to keep the princess alive. Ignoring the strange event that just occurred before his eyes, Gaius knelt down with difficulty to the princess, gripping her shoulders and turned her on her back.

After kneeling to the princess Gaius motioned to Arthur.

“Hold her head in place while I work.”

Frowning a little at the request Arthur took Merlin’s head in his hands as Gaius had asked, then watched in fascination and horror as Gaius forced a wooden instrument down Merlin’s throat.

Arthur didn’t know what was supposed to happen, but by the look on Gaius’s face told him that the fact that the princess was gagging into a bucket wasn’t what was supposed to happen.

“Strange.” Was the vague response Gaius responded with, before he glanced at Arthur once more, before shoving the instrument down Merlin’s throat again?

Arthur flinched a little when Merlin gagged. He had seen a lot of people gag and puke before, but for some reason the fact that the princess was being forced to gag simply made him want to puke for her. He watched as Gaius swabbed something from Merlin’s mouth, something that was a strange grey blue color, and shimmering.

“It’s just as I feared…” The physician stated before telling Arthur to keep Merlin in that same position as he moved over to his shelves, to grab various vials and jars placed on the shelf.

“What?” Was all that Arthur could choke out as he looked back down at Merlin then back up at Gaius. “What did you find?” Arthur shouted at Gaius, trying to move his head to follow Gaius as he disappeared behind a shelf.

Arthur groaned a little at the dismissive nature of the graying physician, before he noticed that Will had returned to Gaius’s chambers, with various herbs in his hands, roots and all. This fact alone made Arthur frown. Did the servant go and freshly pick them? Was there some sort of herb garden that he tended to that allowed him to only be gone for 10 minutes to gather them?

“Gaius, I got the herbs you asked for!” The brown haired servant shouted out, turning in a circle in the center of the chambers as he tried to spot the graying physician.

Arthur noticed Gaius’s emerging from behind the shelves, once more moving over to a table set up with various tools in the room. He motioned for the brown haired servant to approach the table, beginning to give the boy instructions, as he himself began mixing things in a brown wooden bowl.

“Remove the roots from the southernwood and angelica, then take half of the southernwood and grind it up with all of the angelica. Don’t worry about being to forceful, we want the herbs and the juices to mix together.” The graying physician stated, as he poured a strange liquid into his bowl.

Will in response began removing the roots from the angelica and southernwood he was asked to retrieve and began to grind the two herbs together. His hands working fast yet with a skill that showed he had been doing this for years. While he worked his face formed a frown, and he asked Gaius about something of which Arthur did not understand.

Not that it really mattered to Arthur; he was just a tad bit more concerned with the fact that Merlin was squeezing his hand to death.

 

**~Will’s POV~**

Will felt confused about what he had been asked to retrieve from the physician’s herb garden. Angelica, southernwood, and coltsfoot were all herbs that they typically used to help with respiratory diseases such as asthma or blackening of the lungs. Which confused Will to no end; since it seemed that the princess was drowning, not suffering from asthma.

Being raised to follow the scientific process, and with a man who naturally encouraged Will to ask questions, will wasted no time in voicing his concerns.

“Why are you treating this like asthma? It’s like she’s drowning?”

The physician shook his head at Will. Whether in disapproval or recognition was a little lost on the boy.

“Very observant Will, normally we would assume that she was drowning, but when I looked at her airway it was closing like an asthma patients would.” He stated, not looking up from the herbs he was working with as he continued with his explanation. “The constricting of the airway seemed to be the result of a grey substance that is stuck in her airway.”

To prove his point Gaius, pushed the wooden instrument he had used to make Merlin gag in Will’s direction. The tip of it had a grey shimmering substance stuck to it. Will clenched his jaw at seeing this, the shimmering seemed magical and the grey color concerned him, nothing naturally came out of the body grey and shimmering.

He began grinding the herbs he was working with much harder.

“Shouldn’t we just try to make her puke it all up?” Will asked hesitantly, not sure about what the protocol for getting rid of seemingly magical grey gunk from the inside of someone’s throat was. His eyebrows furrowed at Gaius as he shot worried glances back at the princess.

The old physician shook his head at Will for the second time.

“That was what I first tried to do, but it would seem that the substance is keeping her from expelling anything. I pulled some of it from her throat and it was shimmering. It’s quite obviously magical in nature.”

Will nodded in agreement at this statement, before realization dawned on him.

“Is that why you asked for all of these ingredients? To try and combat the magic?”

The physician sighed in exasperation before nodding at the browned haired servant.

“Correct, I don’t know for sure if this will work, but I’m hoping that if we can neutralize the magic, then she will be able to puke it all up.”

At this explanation, Will nodded his eyes setting into a determined gaze, as he focused back on the herbs he was grinding.

The herbs that he was crushing mixed together well, and once he was done, you couldn’t tell that the mixture in front of him had once been any sort of herb. Lifting the grinding stone up, Will scraped the mixture into a bowl Gaius had set before him, allowing Gaius to take over mixing the herbs, while he himself grabbed the coltsfoot and the rest of the southernwood and moved over to Merlin. He had a pretty good idea about what Gaius wanted to do. After all the physician had been mentoring Will for over 14 years, he knew what to do.

The herbs that Gaius had asked for where known for something else as well. In fact, they were known for being able to repel and combat magic. The whole treatment wasn’t meant to remedy the constricting of the airway, or to absorb water. It was meant to rid Merlin of the enchantresses spell.

Clutching the herbs tightly in his hand, and glaring at the noble who was holding Merlin still, Will sat down in front of Merlin, before grabbing a candle from nearby, and lighting the herbs in his hand so that they smoked.

“I suggest you move back.” Will stated, moving closer to Merlin as he took over for Arthur, moving the smoke in front of Merlin’s face so that she would breathe it in.

As Arthur moved away, Will sat behind Merlin, propping her up so that he could easily keep her upright as he had her breath in the smoke. Her back rested against his chest while he wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her in place, making it so that her head lolled back and rested on his shoulder.

He focused on making sure that Merlin breathed in the smoke, ignoring the harsh glares her got from the blonde knight as he worked. However, it wasn’t long before; Merlin started writhing more, her breaths coming in ragged gasps, her skin turning to a pale white color, and she began to gurgle on water that wasn’t there. Her head whipped from side to side, as she arched her back and kicked out her feet. Will’s eyes widened at this as her arms flailed out and she knocked the smoking coltsfoot and southernwood from his hands.

“Woah! Merlin! Calm down! It’s me Will!” He shouted out, as she continued to flail. He moved around trying to hold Merlin still, however somehow she got her head underneath his chin, so that when she jerked back up, the top of her head hit Will’s chin with enough force that Will fall backwards, off of the bed Merlin had been propped up on.

“Gaius!” Will shouted out, motioning for Arthur to help him restrain Merlin. The physician’s apprentice grabbed the princess’s arms, holding them down in place, while the knight moved to keep her legs still.

“What’s is it boy” Gaius responded, coming into where Will and Arthur where struggling to keep Merlin still, and frowning when he saw how badly they were losing.

“I don’t know, one moment she was fine and then the next she starts, flailin’ around like she’s being attacked!” Will shouted, struggling to keep Merlin’s arms pinned to her side.

Gaius watched them struggle with Merlin, Will with keeping her upper body still enough, and Arthur who was trying to get a hold of her legs so that he could keep her from kicking his face. It didn’t take much time for Arthur to get a firm grip on the princess’s ankles and pinned them down on the floor.

Although, the strangest thing happened.

Just as Gaius was about to grab the smoking herbs to help, as soon as Arthur got a firm grip on her, and as soon as Will was poked in the eye by Merlin’s flailing arms, the princess began to calm down, her breathing becoming somewhat normal, her skin returning to a better shade, and she no longer writhed so violently.

The three of them frowned at this revelation, and Gaius looked at Arthur with a curious gaze.

“Set her back up onto the bed Arthur, and don’t take your hand from her.” Gaius suddenly stated, much to the confusion to Will, and the understanding of Arthur.

Picking up the smoking herbs Gaius handed them back to Will.

“Continue to have her breath the smoke; it should help open her airway.”

Will did what he had been asked without much question. He did wonder what he wasn’t being told about, but he wouldn’t dwell too much on it when his best friend was drowning because of some enchantress’s magic. They didn’t have time for him to question what was going on, no matter how long Gaius had drilled it into his head that it was always important to ask questions. It was already a miracle that Merlin had lasted this long under the influence of the spell. They could grill Arthur later about how he had managed to calm Merlin down, but for now they needed to focus on helping Merlin.

Continuing with what he had left off doing, Will allowed Merlin to breathe in the smoke. He could tell that she was already breathing just a little easier, and he could also tell that the herbs anti-magical properties were hindering the effectiveness of the magical substance in Merlin’s throat.

Will allowed himself to smile at this, thanking the gods and goddesses above that they had left at least some sort of defense against magic for those people who could not use it.

Will, didn’t stop with the spreading of the smoke, even when Gaius finally came over with the liquid they hoped would negate the effects of the grey substance stuck in Merlin’s airway.

“Tilt her head back for me.” Gaius said to Arthur, as he sat in front of Merlin, holding the bowl with the liquid up to her lips. He tilted the bowl forward, pouring it into Merlin’s mouth, as Arthur in turn held her head as to allow none of it to escape her mouth. Once half of the liquid was gone, Gaius set the bowl aside, closing Merlin’s mouth and plugging her nose, titling her head back further.

When this happened, Merlin flailed some more, before she ended up swallowing the liquid instead. Gaius satisfied with this, let go of Merlin’s nose, and moved Merlin so that she was laying on her side, her head over the bucket, and he once again grabbed the wooden instrument, and shoved it down Merlin’s throat.

This time, instead of dryly coughing into the bucket, Merlin puked, emptying the contents of her stomach, and in turn, forcing the magical substance out of her airway.

However, instead of landing the bucket that had been set in front of her, a sort of black cloud rushed out of the princess’s mouth, forming blackened spindly tendrils that flailed violently after being expelled.

The princess, after expelling this substance, completely stopped in her distress, she breathed normally, the pained expression that had been on her face was now gone, she slumped back into the bed succumbing to the more pleasant dreams that now awaited her.

But the tendrils shrieked. They shrieked violently, and loudly. Like a bird, but also like bubbles popping on the surface of the water. It cried in outrage of being denied its sacrifice, flailing around as if it were a child throwing a tantrum.

The men in the rooms were alarmed by the sudden appearance of the magic. More so surprised at how tangible it was, how alive it looked. Gaius took a step back, Arthur stood between it and Merlin his sword drawn, while Will gapped at it with dumb amazement.

More angry screeched came from the blackened monstrosity, the magic wanted its sacrifice. It wanted to set the balance right, it would have its victim.

So it lunged at Arthur.

Its tendril’s wrapped around Arthur’s neck, tightening, and choking. It then threw its entire being over Arthur’s head, suffocating him, drowning him.

Gaius and Will shouted out in alarm, standing dumbly, helpless only to watch, they had no way to fight the magic, and the only sword in the room was laying under the magic.

Arthur, gasped and choked at the monster. It was so real now, it had taken on a solid shape, and it had become something entirely new. Something bent on revenge, and death.

Clenching his eyes shut, Arthur grabbed one of the throwing knives he had kept on his belt from earlier that day. Holding it firmly in hand, thrusting it upwards at the magic.

Another screech could be heard, as the magic cringed back, its form dissolving and flitting away, away from the people who had thwarted it. Away from the gapping boy, and panting knight.

**~ Gaius’s POV ~**

Gaius was not at all surprised by the angry shouting coming from the hall outside of his chambers. Nor was he surprised by the loud bang that sounded out throughout his chambers as an angry king stormed into his living quarters. He was far too numbed by past events to be anything but exhausted.

“Gaius!” Uther shouted, sounding more panicked than angry.

Gaius turned away from Merlin, who was now breathing normally, and turned to face Uther not hinting in the least bit about how exhausted he was or how much he would like to simply sit down for a nice hot meal, then go to bed.

He had told Arthur and Will to go and attend to their duties as soon as the three had calmed down a bit from the appearance of the magic. Will had gone quietly, without much protest, while Arthur had looked at Merlin at that moment and stated that she was his duty. Gaius had been in no mood for any of the young knight’s sense of duty, so he simply told him to go and clean himself of the horribly rancid smell that he exuded. Which got the knight running for water faster than anything else.

Looking the king over, Gaius noted that Uther was tense, tenser than usual, his face was hardened, teeth grinding together in an angry snarl, his fists clenched tightly. Gaius could see the out of place hair, the paleness in his face, and the fear and worry in his eyes.

Gaius stood up straight, standing equal to Uther, seeing as at this moment in time, Uther needed someone to be higher than him, to help assure him that his daughter was fine. So Gaius used his seniority and experience to help him let off an air that would show Uther that he knew exactly what he was doing.

Uther tensed more, looking at Gaius with a sense of hostility that was completely animalistic, the sense of anything of anyone being higher than him was very unsettling for Uther, as he wasn’t used to the feeling, and it made him think he had to fight a rival. But when Gaius smiled an assuring smile and put a hand on Uther’s back in something resembling comradery, his tension dissolved.

Gaius led Uther over to Merlin, so he could look at her sleeping face and know that she wasn’t going to die any time soon.

Uther, seemed to collapse onto the chair in front of Merlin, and took his daughters hand in relief. All sense of being a king disappeared, as he knelt by his daughter.

“Do you know who did this?” The king asked, his voice deceptively calm now.

Gaius nodded.

“The guards you assigned to Merlin have confirmed it to be Mary Collins, the woman who threatened Merlin’s life before.”

Gaius could have swarm that he heard a rumbling growl come from Uther.

“She would kill a child for the sake of revenge!” Uther shouted, standing on his feet, his eyes filled with fire. The need to protect his child from the hands of the enchantress who wished a gruesome death upon her.

Gaius pushed back, not hard, but gently. He nudged Uther back into a sitting position, willing the strained King into letting go for a moment.

“A mother’s grief is a terrible thing Sire, the way you feel about protecting Merlin is much the same, but in a mother it is also more intense. I could hardly imagine the pain she must feel at being unable to protect her child.” Gaius moved to sit close to Uther, who had gone silent. He sighed inwardly and began to lead Uther on to a less upsetting topic. “You mustn’t stress yourself sire. Your old injury will begin acting up if you don’t calm yourself.” Gaius chastised.

Uther tore his gaze away from the sleeping face of his daughter, his eyes a bit red, but not wet, he nodded rolling his shoulder, seeming grateful at the opportunity to veer away from Mary Collins.

“I had been meaning to talk to you about that Gaius. But more pressing matters had come up.”

Gaius cocked his eyebrow.

“Have you been using the tonic?” Gaius asked.

Uther nodded. “It helped at first, but my injury has been clenching, and it becomes hard to hold a quill.”

Gaius, stood thoughtfully for moment, before going to his shelf and pulling off a jar of clear liquid. He unsealed the jar and poured a little of it into a smaller container of which he sealed and brought back to the King.

“Try adding this to your bath sire. It should help loosen your muscles.”

Uther took the vial from Gaius thankfully. “Thank you Gaius.” He stated simply, before looking back at Merlin and falling into a depressed silence.

Gaius, simply stared at Uther sympathizing with the downcast king before opening his mouth to address an issue of which he had just recently stumbled upon.

“Sire. What do you know about the new Knight? Arthur from Cornwall? I believe?” Gaius suggested, intending to bring the issue up slowly, after all magic was an extremely touchy subject with the king.

Uther nodded, not thinking too much of the issue, his mind being flooded with thoughts of the witch, and how to best protect Merlin if the witch could so easily sneak into his daughters room.

“He protected Merlin rather well, even after two of your best knights were frozen by the enchantress.” Gaius continued, trying his best to come upon this subject gently, he wished not to get Arthur executed, but he also knew that this could very well be one of the best things for Merlin. To have someone who could balance out her talents with one of their own.

Uther’s alarms started to go off when Gaius mentioned the enchantress, and his temper flared.

“Yes, Sir Leon explained the whole thing to me. Arthur saved my girls life.”

Gaius nodded before continuing.

“Do you not think it is amazing that he was able to resist the enchantress’s spell, when both Leon and Owaine had been frozen in place?” Gaius prodded.

The alarms were blaring in Uther’s head at what Gaius was saying, he shot up, turning to Gaius in alarm.

“What are you trying to say Gaius?” Uther asked, his eyed wide and his tone alarmed.

Gaius seemed to stiffen a little at the King’s alarm. He knew that he should tread carefully. So he simply stated what he believed quickly, not allowing for the king to interject before he had reached his point.

“I believe that your new Knight is something very rare Sire. I believe that he will be able to protect Merlin better than anyone else ever could.” Gaius stepped closer to the king, intending to make sure that his point was heard.

Uther’s eyebrows narrowed at Gaius. “Are you accusing one of my knights of using magic Gaius?” Uther fumed, having immense pride in his knights, and taking great offense in even those knights who had just begun being accused of using magic.

Gaius shook his head calmly.

“No sire, I am actually suggesting just the opposite. Have you ever heard of people who naturally repel magic?”

Uther was taken aback by the unexpected turn of the conversation. He had been fully prepared to begin ranting and raving about how Gaius should be absolutely sure that what he was accusing was true before continuing. But he had been completely blindsided by this. People who naturally repelled magic? Such a thing existed?

Gaius continued. “Such people are extremely rare, and usually their ability does not appear until they have been exposed to a powerful spell, or a certain mixture of random things and magic. More often than not, the ability usually manifests itself when the person in question is in a life or death situation.” Gaius’s hands were in front of him, making grand gestures in an attempt to explain just how it worked.

“No one knows exactly why it works, but after this ability is revealed, no magic can affect the person.”

Uther was rendered speechless by this revelation. It opened up countless number of doors, and made suddenly made Arthur, a boy he had only just met recently, one of the most valuable assets he had.

“You’re… You’re saying that Arthur… Arthur isn’t affected by Magic?” Uther stuttered, glee apparent in his voice, he seemed to have bounced back from whatever depression he had been in before and was standing before Gaius once more in his usual confident manner.

Gaius felt relieved that the king was thinking about Arthur as an asset instead of a threat. It would have been very unfortunate if Gaius told Uther about Arthur’s ability only for him to think the worst and begin assuming Arthur had magic. Which in all reality was the very opposite of what he was, but he still had to walk through his revelation to further cement the fact that Arthur was NOT magic in any way shape or form. Nodding at Uther Gaius moved to explain more to the joyous king.

“I noticed it when the young Knight brought Merlin in. I asked him to set Merlin down and step back. But as soon as he let go of her, Merlin began to writhe. Arthur helped me restrain her, and I noticed that when Arthur came to her, she began to calm. It happened once more when Will came back with the Herbs I has asked for, and he asked Arthur to step back. Merlin began writhing again, just as before, and just like previously, she stopped when Arthur got a hold of her.”

Uther digested this information, and nodded for Gaius to continue.

“Then there was the magic, it wasn’t the normal kind of magic, the kind that simply dissolves away once it has been thwarted. It formed, took shape, and became as real and as tangible as you or I.”

Uther’s eyes widened in alarm at this, and he frowned.

“This was because of Arthur?” He asked, utterly confused at how Arthur’s ability could have caused such an unusual effect.

Gaius shook his head. “No sire, Arthur’s ability is what can be considered as the total opposite of Magic, and as such he is able to combat it by simply being close to it. The fact that the Magic became so real was because the spell that was used on Merlin is one that has never been thwarted before. It’s one that requires a sacrifice no matter what, and cannot be destroyed without one.” Sighing Gaius admitted. “It doesn’t truly matter who the sacrifice is however. So it will be just a matter of time before it returns.”

Uther’s fist clenched, and he moved to speak.

“Will it attack the lower citadel?” Uther asked, truly concerned for his people.

Gaius nodded. “I suspect it will look for a victim right away. We would be very lucky if it hasn’t already claimed its sacrifice.”

Uther sighed, he mourned the loss of a citizen, an innocent bystander who died because of the misguided anger of an evil witch. He vowed to himself that he would see this witch dead no matter what it took. She had already left too many dead bodies in her wake, and that was simply unacceptable.

Gaius stared at Uther’s face, it had hardened with a look of steely resolve. He seemed to have already assumed that the magic had taken its victim, and was taking a personal interest in the victim, despite the fact that he didn’t even know them.

“I’ll keep an eye on Arthur, and see just how useful he can be. For now, I would prefer him to stay with Merlin until this witch is apprehended.” Uther had spoken suddenly, and after he was finished, he looked Gaius straight in the eyes.

“I trust you to make sure my daughter recovers.”

And with that, the king left the room, no doubt going to tend to preparations for the feast.

**~Arthur’s POV~**

It was all wrong, suspicious, and just plain weird. No one got put on guard duty alone. Especially when there was an evil witch trying to kill your charge. It just didn’t make sense.

So when King Uther had dismissed Sir Leon and Owaine, and left Arthur alone to guard the princess, he felt more than a little wary about what it meant.

It was a huge gamble to put your child in the hands of one knight when someone with magic was trying to kill them.

Under normal circumstances it usually took an entire army to defeat a person with magic, or at the very least a team of well-trained soldiers equipped with magic repelling objects, and even then it wasn’t a guarantee.

Staring at the black tresses that fell down the princess’s back, Arthur’s eyebrow twitched, he hadn’t quite grasped the situation that had befallen him.

One minute he was just a normal nobleman, training to become one of the best knights that Camelot could offer. He’d trained day and night, listening to the clang of metal against metal, feeling the sting of cuts, and the smell of battle.

Then he met _“her”_ the princess of Camelot, beloved daughter of the king, and the most stubborn, clumsy, smart aleck, big eared, loudmouthed, not-so-sneaky, improper _“PRINCESS”_ , he had ever seen.

_“Honestly, how can she be considered Royalty? She’s not even trained properly! Not even graceful!”_

He couldn’t quite accept that his image of Camelot’s royal family was being spoiled by the way the princess acted. She acted so independent, fierce, and cunningly. They were all good qualities in a prince, but for a princess…

Sighing to himself, Arthur chastised himself, he supposed that it was all that should be expected of the young princess. If what the dragon said had been true.

**_~Flashback~_ **

_It was still very dark out, and the halls were being patrolled by the guards, all being very vigilante in their efforts to keep the castle free from any ill that would intend to befall it. Arthur, was in the quarters he was assigned to as a nobleman, a section of the castle that was close to the armory and not too far away from the royal chambers, in case there was an emergency and the knights were needed to protect the royal family._

_He had just finished scrubbing away the purple substance that stuck to his skin, dressed in a casual attire of a red shirt and black pants. He had called for a servant to take away the bath water. A servant girl, Guinevere, arrived to take that bath water away, along with another girl who went by the name of Penelope. Both were lovey young ladies, but Arthur had noticed that Guinevere held herself up a little bit more than the servant Penelope._

_It had made Arthur wonder if all of the women in Camelot were strange._

_He tested his theory on the two girls, seeing if they would tell him off, or at the very least act in a way that most women anywhere else would when being harassed by a knight. He didn’t dishonor them, no, he would never stoop that low, but he did give them a fair bit of grief, tripping them once in a while and watching the mess the water made. Then purposely insulting them for their clumsiness. And he hated to admit it, but he was having a bit too much fun with it as well. Which he normally didn’t._

_Not once did Arthur relent while the two were there, and he watched them leave with the bath water, fascinated by the contained way the two girls (Especially Guinevere) held themselves. He could tell how much they wanted to tell him off for leaving such a mess for them, as well as for the way he harassed them while they were there, but they held back. It was strange in the fact that no one did that, yet it was also the most sensible and proper thing to do._

_He watched them leave, pleased, yet also puzzled. No one would put up with the grief he had put the two through without at the very least some sort of retribution. He continued to puzzle this fact as he cleaned his sword, focusing on the metal, and cleaning it until he could see his reflection._

_He almost didn’t notice the flare of “something” in the corner of his eye._

_Looking up suddenly when the flare happened, Arthur, frowned when he saw light disappearing around the door._

_Stopping with his attempts to clean his sword, Arthur stood, holding the sword in front of him, in a ready stance in case something were to jump out at him. Slowly he approached the door, cautious as he pokes the door open with the tip of his sword._

_Nothing._

_Moving swifter than before, Arthur suddenly rounded the corner of the door and stood facing away from where the door was opening, he saw nothing on that side and quickly looked behind the door._

_Still nothing._

_Frowning, Arthur looked around once more, before moving to put his sword away._

_However, before he could even position the sword over the sheath, another light seemed to flit around the corner._

_Becoming on guard again, Arthur held his sword out again and approached the corner quickly. Like before, he rounded the corner quickly._

_Nothing again._

_“What in the-“_

_Arthur’s words were interrupted as another light seemed to linger for a little bit, behind a corner, flickering and staying still for a while. He saw the shadow of a hand beckoning him to come, waiting, before the light flitted away down the corridor of that corner._

_Feeling suspicious, yet also not threatened by the source of the light. Arthur reluctantly put his sword away, and proceeded with caution as he followed the light._

_That light, was always much farther ahead of Arthur, always at the next bend or turn, or shining from behind a door. It never stayed for long, just long enough for Arthur to get a good look at where it was, then disappear. It also disappeared every time a guard would pass by, and Arthur would feel a strange compulsion to hide as well. It didn’t made sense to Arthur. Why he was following the light, but he did so anyways, and seemed to “humor it” by hiding from the guards just as it did._

_Even when it led him down to the dungeons, and distracted the guards so that he could pass by them without being noticed, not once did he think to himself “I should turn back”. He just followed the light, drawn by some inexplicable curiosity and wonder._

_Until of course, he arrived in the cave._

_“Where am I?” Arthur said to himself, also at the same time, to the strange companion of light that had led him there. He jumped a little when the torches suddenly lit up, illuminating the inky darkness of the cavern._

_Drawing his sword once more, eyes wide, and startled, it seemed that he had been tricked into coming here by some sort of sorcerer, perhaps that enchantress that had tried to kill Merlin. With anger evident in his voice, he shouted out into the cave._

_“Where are you? Show yourself you cowardly wench! You filthy enchantress!”_

_No response came to him for a while, as if the silence were a contemplation, until the beating of wings could be heard. Arthur heard this sound, and looked up into the air, expecting some sort of aerial assault._

_Then his jaw dropped._

_It was a DRAGON! A DRAGON! That landed before Arthur, staring down at him with a looked that was comprised of annoyance, pity, and… Joy?_

_Arthur was knocked back by the powerful gust of wind that came from the dragons wings. And he stared up at the dragon, his mouth hanging open, gapping in wonder, and fear._

_Even being scared out of his wits was not enough to deter Arthur from keeping his sword pointed at the position of which he thought the heart of the dragon was positioned._

_It was at this display of bravery that the dragon’s expression changed, and seemed to lay down in front of Arthur as if honored, yet at the same time, angry._

_“The balance of the world has been shifted, young Pri- Warrior.” The stumbling of words, and let alone the words that came from the Dragon’s mouth was enough to throw Arthur off completely. His stance wavered, and his sword dropped out of his hands, complete and utter shock showing clearly on his features._

_A grim smile slipped onto the dragons face, as it continued with its cryptic discussion, a discussion more so meant for the dragon alone than for a blond haired knight that had never seen a dragon before._

_“It is unfortunate to see someone meant to be so great stripped down to being a mere knight, no matter how good.” A cloud of smoke blew from the nostrils of the dragon, as he stared down at the gaping knight, almost as if at a loss for words, which would look painful and strange to someone who knew the dragon by name._

_Stumbling over his own words, Arthur garbled, not so much in terror anymore, than in confusion._

_“Wha-what? I thought the dragons had been wiped out! Yet there’s one in Camelot’s dungeons? Does Uther even know about this? Is it somehow the enchantress? She must have conjured it! Danm w-“_

_A cry of outrage ripped from the throat of the majestic creature in front of Arthur at the suggestion of being a conjuration of the enchantress._

_“Do not mistake me for a mere conjuration of a lowly enchantress! I am an ancient and noble creature and have lived for too many centauries to be called a mere summons!”_

_Arthur stopped in his tracks, staring up at the dragon as if it had grown a second head. Which wasn’t all that strange, it would just constitute a name change._

_Swallowing his words Arthur’s thoughts returned to some semblance of normal, instead of the jumbled mess of a rambling knight scared out of his wits. He didn’t quite believe that he was awake, or that he was still sane, but he did want answers. Questions that he had burned on his tongue, and he couldn’t contain them any longer, no matter how afraid he was, and much like the dragon, the words spilled out of his mouth like flames._

_“Were you the one who brought me here? With that ball of light?” Arthur asked, somehow his tone remaining steady, despite how much his hands shook. The bravery and courage that was intricately woven in Arthur’s very being made itself known, in the way his eyes shone with fear, yet he still stood tall, facing the dragon with his head held high, challenging._

_The dragon looked at Arthur with respect, admiring the way that Arthur shone like a gem, the dragon was very tempted to keep the young knight there with him, hoarding him like a gem._

_“Very observant courageous one.” The dragon rumbled, amusement and pleasure evident in his voice. The transgression of being called the summons of an enchantress was forgotten as the winged creature laid itself on the rock with its eyes level with Arthur’s easing the knight’s worries to a certain degree, but causing the questions he had to double._

_“Why?” The blond haired knight questioned, confusion etching his voice. “Why call me here? It wasn’t to eat me was it? No I think you would have already done that if it were your goal. So why? Why am I here?” Arthur asked, his brow furrowing deeply as he puzzled over the intentions of the dragons like so many before him._

_The dragon chuckled, amused by the utterly mundane and typical line of thought that the young noble had followed._

_“I wished to meet half of the future of this kingdom.” The dragon stated simply, as if it were an obvious fact, and not another statement that would lead the young noble to more questions._

_“The Future of this Kingdom?” Arthur questioned, his tone incredulous, and not at all believing what he had just heard. Surprisingly, it was only at this time that Arthur bothered to pinch himself to see if he were dreaming._

_When the young blond haired noble confirmed that he was not dreaming, his eyes widened a little further and he looked up at the dragon with skeptical and critical eyes._

_“What the hell are you talking about?” Arthur snapped, no fear evident in his features now, just anger._

_Sighing the dragon continued, exasperated. “It is just as I have said young one. I wished to meet you, the future of this kingdom. The prophesized leader, a king who will unite all of Albion.” The look on the dragons face was puzzled as he said this, as if he himself was beginning to see Arthur as less than what he should be. Not at all the stuff of Legends that had been passed down through druid legends and texts of the old religion._

_Scoffing, Arthur turned, talking to himself, having already had enough of the shite that he was being fed. “I can’t believe this. I have just fallen victim to a prank by a dragon. You have fallen far Arthur, very far.”_

_The dragon’s anger flared once more at the actions of the young knight, he did not appreciate his words being dismissed so easily as a prank by a child who knew nothing of the legends, who had barely lived long enough to know the difference between his behind and his big head. The dragon reined in his anger with difficulty, seeing that it would do him absolutely no good to burn the future of Albion to a crisp._

_“Deny it all you wish young warrior, but destiny cannot be denied, you are half of the future of this land.”_

_Turning sharply, Arthur glared up at the dragon, staring into the slit pupils of his eyes. “Half? Now you’re just making stuff up. Who could I possibly be partnered with for such a thing? Better yet, why me, I’m nothing? I’m not even a full knight of Camelot yet! I don’t know what they’re feeding you down here, but I know that it’s done something to your head, you’re not making any sense.” Arthur snapped, his glare surprisingly harsh, seeing as he had been a stuttering mess not two minutes ago. The dragon sighed._

_“Greatness is in you young warrior, you just have yet to realize it.”_

_Arthur shook his head._

_“How can I be great when I’m stuck being the babysitter for a clumsy princess?” Arthur sighed, more so as an exasperation. “A princess who hates me no less.”_

_A reptilian smile seemed to don the dragon’s features. “One cannot truly hate that which makes it whole.” The dragon stated, a true tone of mysticism accenting his voice._

_This got Arthur’s attention, he understood that particularly cryptic message, albeit it still confused him, but he had a vivid picture of what the dragon was suggesting. His face colored, and he gapped at the dragon, his mind wandering to things that he really didn’t want to think about._

_“I don’t know what you’re suggesting, bu-“_

_The dragon shook his head before interrupting Arthur. “You and the young princess are two sides of the same coin, your destinies are intertwined and inescapable, together, you will create a shining future for Albion.”_

_Staring up at the dragon with a face twisted in confusion._

_“How?” He asked, flustered at the answers the dragon was giving him. He had so many questions, questions that were being answered cryptically by a dusty old dragon. But even with all the questions that were popping up in his head he still didn’t even have a clue about where to start._

_The dragon sat up, looking down at the warrior._

_“There are numerous threats to the princess’s life, she is in mortal danger, and it is up to you to protect her, as it is up to her to protect you.”_

_Arthur groaned, he understood that he had to protect Merlin, but the other part was just…_

_“You’ve quite obviously got the wrong person, there is no way that I can be this ‘whatever’ that you’re expecting me to be.”_

_One beat of the dragon’s wings was enough to tell Arthur that the winged creature was leaving. His head snapped up so that he was staring up at the dragon as it beat its wings to hover above the spot it had just been in. Arthur covered his eyes, shielding them from the dust the dragon’s wings whipped up._

_“Wait, where are you going!? I still don’t understand what you want me to do.”_

_“Greatness is at your fingertips young warrior, you just have to reach out to grasp it. But beware there is a cost for this greatness. Your life is irrevocably tangled with that of Merlin’s, you are two sides of the same coin, and as such you cannot survive without the other. So whatever you may find out about the young princess, you must remember that everything you care for, and cherish, depends on her.”_

_And with that, the dragon flew away, leaving Arthur to stare after it, intense confusion marring his face._

**~Present~**

Arthur sighed, that conversation had been the night before, after which Arthur had been plagued with endless questions. It had not prevented the blond knight from falling into a fitful sleep, but it had been the source of the constant frown that marred his features the whole time he had been guarding the princess. A whole day had passed, with few highlights aside from the arrival of Lady Helena, and the attempts Merlin kept on making to try and escape. It was nearing time for the feast to begin. It was funny how time flew by when you were thinking about something with such deep and personal content as Merlin and the future of the land.

Even if Arthur had not been a knight, he was a prestigious enough noble that he would have been invited to the feast anyways. However, seeing as Uther was still concerned for his daughter, he had told Arthur that he would be standing to the side, by the servants, ready to jump in at a moment’s notice in case something were to happen and he would need to protect Merlin.

It had been a bit of a blow to Arthur’s confidence that he would be demoted to the position of servants. He was a member of a prestigious noble family, and as such he should be sitting as close to the royal table as possible. But duty to his kingdom came first so Arthur sucked it up, and prepared himself for a knight of vigilance.

Arthur had dressed in his knight’s attire, a red shirt, with a brown tunic over his chainmail, he had leather pants, and a red cape draped over his shoulders, with the insignia of Camelot’s knights keeping the cape in place. He had wanted to relax by dressing in something that was far more comfortable, but that would have made him lazy, so he settled for uniform.

He was leaning against the wall in Merlin’s chambers, watching as the princess readied herself for the banquet, her maidservant, a girl named Anna, was doing the princess’s hair into an intricate braid, while the princess herself chatted with the girl animatedly, as she sprayed perfume on herself and picked out jewelry that would complement the dress she was wearing.

Normally a man was not allowed to be present when a woman was changing, and Arthur was not an exception. The girls had shooed him out of the room so that Merlin could change into her dress, before they allowed him to come back into her chambers.

A sudden comment interrupted Arthur from his thoughts. “I can hear you thinking from all the way over here.”

Turning his head to look at the owner of the voice, Arthur’s mind went blank for a moment, being eclipsed by a single thought.

_“Gods have mercy.”_

Merlin was dressed in the colors of Camelot, a red velvet dress hugged Merlin’s body and drew attention to assets of which Arthur had previously thought Merlin was bereft of. The dress curved with Merlin’s body and guided the eyes down, to where extra fabric just barely touched the floor with Merlin’s every step, while a train swept along behind Merlin as she walked. Merlin’s sleeves themselves ended at the middle of her upper arm, and sheer glossy fabric continued as the sleeve, before being cut by a slit at Merlin’s elbow and hanging from her arm and floating through the air like a feather. The sheer fabric, was a shade of red that almost matched the velvet material of Merlin’s dress until it gradually started fading into a golden shade. The top portion of Merlin’s sleeves and the area surrounding Merlin’s chest, seemed to be spattered with what looked like golden specs that continued in scattered patterns down Merlin’s right side. The specs were outlines in silver, which made them take on the appearance of dragon’s scales, but that wasn’t all, embroidered along Merlin’s low neckline, was the swirling patterns of flames, that spread over Merlin’s entire dress giving her the effect that she was covered in golden flames that burst open at the ends of Merlin’s elbow to allow for Merlin’s hands to show. The jewelry that Merlin wore was golden as well, a golden circlet was woven into Merlin’s hair signifying her as the crowned princess of Camelot. Brilliant red jewel were set into the circlet, no doubt put there by Merlin herself, seeing as the crowns of the female royals were always made so that stones could be taken out and replaces with various jewels. The necklace that the princess wore was a delicate chain that had a dragon pendent holding another brilliant red jewel in its grasp, her bracelets had no jewels in them, but rather had golden fire engraved into them, while the ring that Merlin wore was embedded with the same red jewel as her circlet and necklace. Merlin’s hair was in its usual style, albeit with the circlet woven in, but it still cascaded down her shoulders and back in black waves.

Merlin looked like fire.

A breath that Arthur hadn’t realized he’d been holding escaped his mouth as he stared at a “princess.” A beautiful elegant creature that shone brightly, leaving no doubt in Arthur’s mind that this is what a princess should look like.

Familiar laughter came from the girl sitting in front of Arthur, snapping Arthur out of his trance as he took another look at the creature in front of him.

Blinking Arthur recognized the gangly limbs, and pale skin. He couldn’t see the big ears anymore, but he could still make out the hidden outline of them underneath Merlin’s hair. Although he had to admit that the more he looked at them, the more he thought they made her look like an elf.

“I’m sorry, I missed that.” Arthur said breathlessly, shaking his head to try and shake off the blush that had colored his face.

Out of the corner of his eye Arthur could make out a satisfied smirk from the princess. Looking over to her maidservant, Arthur noticed the way that Merlin threw a conspiratorial smile in her direction, waved her away, and continued to watch as the maidservant giggled at Arthur expense before she scurried away.

Merlin rose to her full height, stepping away from the vanity that she had been primping in front of only moments ago and approaching Arthur. Who quickly stood at attention.

Cursing, Arthur reminded himself that this was Merlin, the same, gangly, clumsy, not-so-graceful, and “un-princess like” princess he had ever had the misfortune of meeting.

It was too late, to take back his sudden action, since Merlin had already taken notice and was instead beaming so widely at him that he swore the room would burst into golden flames like her dress. So instead, he threw a vicious glare in Merlin’s direction, turning away from the bane of his existence and heading towards the door.

“I assume that you’re ready?” Arthur stated, keeping his eyes focused on the door and refusing to look at the picture of beauty his newly sworn evil counterpart had become.

More giggles came from behind him, before he heard one click of a heel, and a satisfied sigh.

“You would be correct.” Merlin replied, her voice suddenly losing that mischievous quality and becoming formal.

Arthur heard the princess take a calming breath, and he did the same. Realizing that he would need all the control he could get if he was going to make it through the banquet without strangling the princess.

**~ Merlin’s POV ~**

Waking up from a near drowning experience had not been pleasant. Waking up to the smell of rotten knight had been even worse. Which made the morning following Merlin’s little scrape with death, the worst possible combination of the two. A pounding headache, combined with the swirl of Merlin’s magic (Which was practically fussing over her wellbeing) when she woke up, had clashed in opposition to create a crippling headache.

Groaning to herself, and turning to bury her face into the softness of her pillow, Merlin dully noticed that the sound of captivity that usually colored the mornings was blissfully absent, a fact of which Merlin was extremely grateful for. Until of course she opened her eyes, and saw the golden head of her favorite knight, making Merlin wish that the atrocious sounds would move into her room.

She’d pretended that she was asleep, hoping that the blond haired noble would leave, so that she could use her magic to camouflage herself and climb out the window to scale the wall into the room next to hers, but that hadn’t happened, so she ended up forcing herself to rise from her comfortable plush grave in order to greet the blond haired knight with veiled disdain.

The fact that he wore the same look on his own face did not go unnoticed, and a strange kinship suddenly formed between them.

**\---**

Throughout the day Merlin’s headache faded, but in its place chaos arose.

Lady Helena had arrived, and the castle had plunged itself into a state of constant movement. It was a nightmare for Merlin, since it meant that even if she could get away from Arthur, she couldn’t use her magic without someone seeing her.

She had learned every nook and cranny of the castle at a very young age, and she could easily find a place to hide if she wanted to. But the problem was that she would always be watched, slipping into those crannies was impossible when everyone started to gap at you, whispering about how the princess of Camelot was gracing their presence.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try though.

She kept on trying to slip away from Arthur, using magic, hiding her eyes far too often, and finding that no matter what kind of spell or magic or object she used to try and slip away from him, it would always be dispelled.

It was endlessly frustrating, a very affront to Merlin’s pride, and belief in herself, her very magical existence, that someone as utterly simple and brutish as Arthur could combat the thing she held the most pride in effortlessly.

Which is why every time Arthur managed to catch her, she could never believe it.

After a total of 15 escape attempts, Merlin was finally confined to her room by the prat who had foiled her attempts.

She had sulked for a bit, before finally deciding that it would be better to just cut her losses, and call her maidservant **,** Anna, to help her prepare for the banquet.

The rest of the afternoon was spent gossiping about scandals in the castle, picking out, then altering a dress, twirling in it, and in general just being a girl, an activity which Merlin normally avoided, ever since she had dreamt of woman saying “Let them eat cake” and having her head chopped off.

It was pleasant for Merlin, to forget for once that a kingdom was on her shoulders, to forget that if she were to even once slip up in her duties, a kingdom full of people would see and in turn feel the effects of her actions.

“What do you think your highness?” Anna had asked, not feeling at all confident in her seamstress skills, despite the fact that she was one of the best tailors in in the city.

Shaking her head at the modesty of her maidservant, Merlin smiled.

“You did fine Anna.” She smiled, before turning to look at the work they had completed.

Merlin had picked out a simple red dress, one that she had never worn before, one she had specifically brought from the seamstress to be altered at a later date. The dress had been bare of any embroidery or accents, and was made so that it could fit anyone, before it was fitted to the body while being altered.

Uther had never understood why Merlin insisted upon altering dresses herself instead of having servants or tailors do it for her. He considered it a task royalty was above, and disapproved of Merlin’s participation in it.

What Uther didn’t realize however, was that Merlin liked altering clothes because it was an activity that kept her close to the common people.

People who bought their own fabric and threads. Cutting the cloth and fitting it to their own bodies. The common people who took great care in making their clothes, knowing that they would have to wear it for a long time.

Merlin had never done that, despite how much she wished she could, Uther allowed her to alter dresses, but he drew the line with her making the dress from scratch. Which was a shame, since Merlin had found out very early on, that magic wasn’t the only thing she was good at.

“Your Highness, you would have made a wonderful seamstress.” Anna had mentioned, earlier when Merlin was skillfully patterning the sheer cloth they had decided would be used for the sleeves.

Blushing slightly, Merlin shook her head. “I doubt that very much Anna, if I were a seamstress I would be rubbish at making dresses for other people.”

Anna in response had laughed and pointed to the sheer in Merlin’s hands.

“I beg to differ your Highness that is beautiful.”

It had been difficult patterning the sheer the way that they had, and Merlin herself thought it would have been better if they had just made it from scratch, dying the thread as they made it. But Anna had shook her head telling Merlin that she could try that when they weren’t pressed for time, and instead showed Merlin how she could dye and bleach the sheer quickly. Once Merlin got the hang of it, she began patterning the sheer as if she’d been doing it for years, the resulting pattern was stunning.

The end result was something that Merlin was immensely proud of. A beautiful dress modeled with Camelot’s crest in mind.

The pattern on the dress resembled the scales on a dragon, golden, and red, the colors of Camelot.

She would floor everyone in the banquet hall.

It also wouldn’t hurt to be able to say that the dress was all her idea.

\---

Watching Arthur’s eyes bug out when he saw her in all of her finery was satisfying to say the least. Specifically because she knew that he thought that she didn’t have any womanly features. So when she saw his blush, and his attempt to not admit even to himself that she looked lovely, she couldn’t help but wish she’d gotten a portrait of his face.

\---

Even thinking about a portrait if the shocked look on Arthur’s face could not lift Merlin’s spirits at the banquet.

But of course it was her own fault.

Merlin had taken more care in her appearance for that night than she had in a long time. Mostly because she was bored, but also because she had wanted to make those people she’d overheard mocking her appearance while she was in camouflage eat their own words.

She had not stopped to think about why exactly she preferred to keep her beauty hidden.

It may have been a nice change to suddenly have people who knew her as an awkward and strange looking girl turn their heads when she walked by, but she didn’t like it when she was suddenly pursued by suitors who she knew would never be able to match her in anything.

She remembered why she hid her form, and kept her hair hidden under a hat.

The nobles at the banquet had always annoyed Merlin, it was bad enough when she was pursued by nobles who were only interested in her title, but it was just degrading when they suddenly were interested only in her beauty. She had tried to stick to the sidelines, standing by her favorite castle mate, while socializing with the nobles who were less annoying and weren’t trying to obtain her chastity, but Uther had insisted that she spread out, or in other words, “Go socialize and find a husband.”

It had never been much of a secret that Uther had wanted a son. He didn’t even need to say it for people to know it was true. His actions spoke loudly enough for it to be well known.

His knights for example, were privy to his special attention. He prided himself on their training and made sure that whenever there was a tournament, that the best knight at the time received his special training.

It also showed in the way that he didn’t punish Merlin as harshly when she deigned to go out dressed in men’s clothing. As well as in the way that he was always bringing suitors to Merlin’s attention.

That fact alone stung.

She’d gotten used to being paraded in front of men, meeting them, and mastering the art of becoming friend zoned, an accomplishment of which she was very proud of. Friendships were far more valuable than unions, friendships were easier to maintain, and easily maintained things were something she would need quite a bit once she ascended the throne. She was completely fine with suitors. Although lusty and over privileged nobles were another thing entirely.

Merlin was thrown off her game by the nobles, which interrupted the well ingrained flow of politics, manners, and social skills that had been beaten into her since she was old enough to read.

More than one friendship that she had formed that night would have to be reinforced later in life. Which really wasn’t like Merlin, she made friends easily. It was noticed by everyone, even people that she barely knew, even her father had noticed, which was saying something.

After the initial meet and greet for those in attendance at the banquet, as well as after Merlin’s father had given his whole speech about how they had maintained a peaceful existence for years (a speech that made Merlin’s skin crawl), and the welcoming of Lady Helena, Uther confronted his daughter. Placing a hand on her shoulder, Uther leaned in to whisper in Merlin’s ear.

“I understand if you are shaken up by the attempt on your life Merlin, but you must stay strong. We must keep up appearances. We cannot have our people thinking that you are weak.”

Merlin pursed her lips at this, tensing up just a little, yet still keeping a smile on her face. She had thought that her father would know the reason for Merlin’s discomfort was because of the attention from the nobles, but she supposed that was too much to ask for. Clenching her fist, Merlin looked across the room, avoiding looking into her father’s eyes.

“Yes father.” She replied, keeping up appearances as the demure, obedient princess that listened to her father. Not the stubborn, fiery, and outspoken child that she was.

She steeled herself from her fathers gaze, watching in rapt attention as the fair Lady Helena entered, and started to sing, capturing the attention of all within the room. Her voice was splendid, truly the voice of the most celebrated singer in all of the land.

**_“Blah khien barrah fweelah, blah khien aiza krum, aloe khio bragam harah eefnell, broe floe mesing lah”_ **

A sadness swept through the air with the words of the singer, drowsiness danced through the room like waves, Merlin saw this, and was utterly enchanted by the beautiful magic that swept through the room, feeling it along her skin, like the familiar caress of a mother’s arms, a sensation which Merlin welcomed gladly. Everyone around her fell into sleep before the effect started to weigh down on Merlin, and her eyes slipped shut as well.

**_“Breeyoolah naaadryu, Sorin sar akhwah, roe hagroe nonestroe”_ **

**The intensity of the lyrics grew, the sadness steadily becoming stronger, the emotions began to take shape, and Merlin could feel the magic creating silk that stuck to her skin, continuing to caress her, lulling her into sleep, the growing sense of sadness, and motherly grief causing Merlin to see her own mother, a woman mourning.**

**_“Broilin sar akwah, mortsin danah bradeh, broilin sar akwah, noe-...”_ **

The magic grew heavier, and the sadness slowly began to cover her, the magic’s silk becoming sticky, heavy, a constant pressure weighing down on Merlin, the image of her mother crying, hugging Merlin too tightly.

**_“Weeben proe, proe sah yakmah, haryay nakhah”_ **

The pressure became stifling, the sadness became anger, and the image of Merlin’s mother started screaming, no longer warmly hugging Merlin, but instead holding her in a vice grip. The sound of metal, and the glint of a knife in Ygraine’s hands. The sound of the knife was what snapped Merlin from the dream, her own magic flaring to life and fending off the sleep that had settled over Merlin, allowing Merlin’s blazing golden eyes to settle on the form of Lady Helena of Mora, her eyes piercing through the glamour that the enchantress had draped over herself, allowing Merlin to see Mary Collins.

**_“Agah madah Sadah Hagah!”_ **

The anger of the song fueled Merlin’s own rage at being deceived and made to dream of a mother she had never met, the sound of the knife sliding from a sheath, reminding Merlin once again of the sound of captivity. The glint of the knife rose above Mary Collins, and Merlin’s eyes burned a brighter golden color, staring straight at the angry face of Mary Collins.

The sound of another weapon being drawn from its sheath, tipped Merlin over the edge, as she watched a head of brilliantly golden hair enter into her line of sight.

The head of blonde hair didn’t get far before Merlin looked up and willed the chandelier to fall.

A crack, and a sizzle could be heard when the chandelier fell on Mary Collins.

Merlin’s eyes returned to normal as soon as the chandelier hit the floor, and she slumped in her seat, slowly moving the cobwebs that had somehow formed on her body from her line of sight so that she could stare at the prone form of Mary Collins as she lay under the chandelier.

The nobles of the banquet hall, all held their breath, as they looked at the body under the chandelier. Confusion passed over the hall as the nobles stared at the body.

Three things happened after that.

Mary Collin’s lifted herself up, crawling out from under the chandelier in an amazing feat of strength. She once again, lifted the knife above her head and threw it at Merlin with a cry.

Merlin’s eyes widened at this, flinching and reflexively closing her eyes and cringing away.

Her eyes flashed gold under her eyelids, and she felt the world slow as warm hands grabbed a hold of her arms and yanked her away from the path of the knife and pulling her down into the warm embrace of the man she thought despised her.

An enraged cry ripped from the throat of Mary Collins, as she bellowed to all in the banquet hall.

“I am not finished yet! I will not stop until I have avenged my son! Merlin Pendragon will die! She will die tonight!”

Raising up her arms, the enchantress began to call upon every evil intention and action through a random and singularly purposed set of words in the language of magic. They did not fit together, nor did they adhere to one another, it was simply a mashing together of magic, magic meant to destroy.

**_”Ragu fir cwalu endian hearmcwalu ætlætnes!”_ **

The discord and lack of harmony of the words created a ghastly effect. Black, writhing fire formed in Mary Collin’s hands, emotions from her mind bleeding out from her eyes, the hunger of a thousand starved children flying to her from the windows, the sounds of war and chaos screaming as they too joined the magic.

The magic itself screamed in ecstasy, joy, anger, hatred, jealousy, and strife, before an agonizing screech came from somewhere.

A monster appeared in the banquet hall, in the form of inky black tendrils, dripping substance that never hit the floor, and bubbles popping everywhere on its form.

Merlin felt the blonde haired knight tense, and push Merlin to hide behind him, knights all over the hall drew their swords and prepared to attack the creature that had appeared in the banquet hall.

However, they all found out soon enough that they had no need to draw their swords. The creature flew to Mary, its tendrils wrapping around her, punishing, angry, before it covered her form, smothering her, and absorbing the discordant magic that she had been holding in her hands. The monster seeped into Mary Collins through her very pores, her nose, her mouth, her eyes, and ears, before it disappeared entirely.

The creatures was all but gone, having disappeared into Mary Collins. The face of the mourning mother was anguished, suffering. Merlin recognized the look on her face. It was turning blue, she was gurgling, and struggling for even the tiniest bit of air.

She was drowning.

Merlin watched in horror as Mary Collins drowned in the air, listening to her gurgling screams, flinching as her body fell to the floor with a wet thud, and she writhed on the floor like a snake with its head cut off. Her skin turned black, her eyes glazed over white, and she stopped moving, signifying the very end for Mary Collins.

Silence enveloped the banquet hall, as nobles stood in silence, staring at the prone form of the enchantress who had just tried to kill the princess.

A woman she felt deep sympathy lay in front of her.

The monster that had killed Mary was the magic that had almost killed Merlin.

Random images flew by.

The image of her mother.

Camelot’s crest

Blond hair.

Dragons flames.

Warm hands.

Merlin was numb, she couldn’t register anything.

Aside from the realization that one of her own kin had just tried to murder her.

**~ Arthur’s POV ~**

Relief swept over Arthur when he saw the witch drop dead to the floor.

It was over.

Finally.

He would no longer have to watch the spoiled princess, while she tried to escape from him.

Not when the person who wished her dead was lying in a blackened heap on the floor.

Arthur looked at the face of the woman he had been running around protecting for the worst part of 2 days. And registered the look on the girls face, before becoming rather puzzled.

There was no relief on the princess’s face, nor was there any joy. Instead, her gazed was locked on the broken form of the witch, her face portraying only grief.

Arthur couldn’t fathom it. Why in the world would the princess be sad over the death of the person who had been trying to kill her?

She should be relieved! Grateful! Prostrating herself at Arthur’s feet for pulling her from the path of the witch and saving her life.

Arthur’s mouth formed a tight line as he stared at the anguished look on Merlin’s face, before he was snapped out of his puzzlement by a hand being placed on his shoulder.

Arthur and Merlin were hoisted to their feet by a beaming king, as he stared at the pair with pride.

Taken aback by the overly joyous face of the King of Camelot, Arthur straightened his back, and stood in respectful attention to his sovereign. Who only seemed to become even happier at the display of respect.

“You have saved my daughter’s life.” He breathed out, positively glowing. The side of Arthur’s mouth twitched up about to curl into a smile, before he stopped himself.

“Oh, no sire, I was only performing my duties.” Arthur stated, only being modest as he should be, instead of basking and gloating in the glory of the King’s praise like he wanted to.

Shaking his head, the King continued.

“No, no, this occasion warrants something special.” Uther stated, a contemplative look crossing his face. It was at this that Arthur suddenly got a feeling of dread.

“No. Really sire, I couldn’t ask for you to award me anything.” Arthur continued, feeling tense, and nervous about whatever the King had in mind for a reward, he just “knew” it wouldn’t be good.

Shaking his head once again and patting Arthur on the back, Uther seemed to light up, having found the answer.

“Nonsense my boy! I must reward you.” The King bellowed, before continuing with a gracious smile. “You Arthur, will henceforth be known as Sir Arthur of Cornwall, and shall hold a position in the royal household that previously did not exist!” Uther paused for a moment, no doubt to add a dramatic effect to the announcement. “You will be granted the position as Merlin’s personal bodyguard!” Uther boomed, confirming the suspicion Arthur had about the reward.

Arthur deflated at this declaration, watching as Uther turned away from the dejected knight turned bodyguard. The nobles in the hall had all started clapping, truly believing the new position to be a reward, and not the punishment that it was.

He didn’t know how this had happened, but he did know that it was a major setback, it would keep him from achieving the full potential he had come to Camelot to obtain, a lifetime of sword training and cramming of tactics, all being stored away, ready to gather dust while he played babysitter to a princess who couldn’t keep herself out of trouble even if her life depended on it.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Arthur turned to look at Merlin, as she glared at Arthur, mentally blaming him for all of the troubles she had ever faced in the world.

Sighing, Arthur turned away.

At least he wasn’t alone in his suffering.

**Author's Note:**

> Flames, Comments, Suggestions? All are welcome!


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